Another military training ordnance was found in the Hollister Airport dog park on Aug. 9.
Construction at the park unearthed the ordnance, but this wasn’t the first time a WWII-era training device had been found there. In October 2018 another undetonated device was found at the park.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s bomb squad was called in to disarm the device this month, after ongoing renovations at the park unearthed it.
“It was nothing dangerous,” said Commander Mark Caldwell of Monterey’s bomb squad. He said the ordnance was “very small” and “just a training aid for airplanes.”
Last year, the Hollister City Council voted to spend $7,000 to hire a firm to use ground-penetrating radar to inspect the entire dog park area.
The park is still under renovation.
Caldwell said the device was used in airplane training and would emit chalk or phosphorous when it hit the ground. Because it had been buried for so long, it was unclear if the device was active, he said. To ensure the ordnance wouldn’t go off, Caldwell said the bomb squad used a clearing charge to clear out the device.
“Other than that, it’s a big piece of metal,” said Caldwell.
The area had been a training site for airplanes in WWII, and Caldwell said it was likely that more training devices would continue to be found over time. He said, “It’s going to be the gift that keeps on giving.”
