Land mine discovered inside Colorado storage facility deemed inactive in Jefferson County, unit recently won at auction

By Jack Lowenstein

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    JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colorado (KCNC) — A land mine was successfully removed from a storage facility by U.S. military personnel in the area of Bear Creek in Jefferson County on Wednesday night. The land mine was found inside a unit that had recently been won at auction, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office told CBS News Colorado.

According to the sheriff’s office, law enforcement and military responded to a Public Storage facility at 10201 W Hampden Ave Frontage Rd, where the device was found inside a unit. The mine was determined to be a military device, so the sheriff’s office created a perimeter, and military members responded in a joint effort to determine whether the mine was active or not during the removal process.

The sheriff’s office confirmed with CBS News Colorado the land mine was originally found in a storage unit by new owners after the unit had been won at auction. As they were clearing out the unit, they came upon the land mine and then reported it to the sheriff’s office. As is standard during a storage unit auction, it was unknown to the new owners what the contents of the unit were until the auction was won.

A shelter-in-place order was given close to 7 p.m. for people who lived within a 1/4-mile radius of the storage facility. That order was lifted just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday when the military deemed the land mine inactive.

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