RCMP have evacuated two businesses around Smith Drive in downtown Armstrong, B.C., following the discovery of what police say appears to be a Second World War hand grenade.
The potentially explosive device was found atop a cinder block in an abandoned lot next to a restaurant.
Police said they received a call about the item.
The Dairy Queen and Anchor Inn Pub have both been forced to close, and residents in the area have been told to stay indoors.
The bomb squad is on its way from Vancouver, according to RCMP, with their arrival expected around 2 a.m.
While police simply described the item as a military-grade grenade, a nearby resident said police showed her a photo of a much more elaborate device.
“It’s a makeshift hand grenade but it actually looks like a small box package that’s got tape around it,” said Jess Sawicki-Wright, who lives across the street from the police incident area. “It has live wires, and there’s a live pin and it’s more oval- and square-shaped than looking more like a hand grenade.”
Sawicki-Wright said the item she saw in the photo on an RCMP officers’ cellphone looks bigger than a regular grenade.
“There are wires. It is a package. It’s got tape and it’s quite big,” she said.
Sawicki-Wright called it a handmade replica.
RCMP would not comment on the woman’s description of the device.