BURRILLVILLE – Authorities responding to a fire in a detached garage at a Pascoag home on Saturday, Feb. 13 found a few complications, with ammunition inside the structure exploding, and a suspected bomb, which later turned out to be a replica.
The blaze was contained to the garage of the home at 830 Reservoir Road and no one was injured in the incident, according to Pascoag Fire District Deputy Chief Richard Peck.
Firefighters were called to the home around 2 p.m. and learned that there were 7,000 rounds of ammunition inside the structure, which was started by a faulty furnace. There was no immediate danger from the rounds for those responding, but exploding bullets created a loud popping sound as the crew contained the blaze.
“The furnace failed and caught fire,” Peck explained. “They lost the garage.”
Firefighters from Glocester and North Smithfield were called in to man the stations while local crews responded to the one alarm blaze.
Reservoir Road was closed to through traffic, and Peck noted the restriction was extended because of a discovery.
“When the fire marshal was doing the investigation he found what looked like a hand grenade,” Peck explained. “It looked real enough that they called in the bomb squad.”
The, “grenade,” turned out to be a replica weapon for the sport Airsoft, a competitive game that uses BBs or plastic pellets.
According to town property records, the home belongs to Joseph and Laurie Spagnolo.
