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Navy detonates explosive device found washed ashore in Tsawwassen

Device found by resident walking along the beach

Naval officers destroyed a marine location marker like the one shown here. Photo HFI PyrotechnicsNaval officer destroyed a ???marker like the one shown here. Photo HFI Pyrotechnics

If you were in Delta on Sunday and you heard a loud explosion around 5:30pm, no, the world was not coming to an end.

Earlier in the day someone walking along the beach around 17A Avenue came across a device called a marine location marker. That person contacted police, which in turn contacted the military.

Delta police helped to secure the scene while waiting for the naval unit to arrive.

A unit from Maritime Forces Pacific Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt was deployed to the area in the late afternoon.

“I can confirm that the Fleet Diving Unit Pacific EOD team destroyed a marine location marker in Tsawwassen on Sunday,” said senior public affairs officer John Nethercott. “This was a routine call-out of the team, and the detonation was conducted with public safety as the main priority.”

Marine location markers are generally deployed from helicopters and emit high intensity smoke and flame, to indicate positions in the sea.

Nethercott said these markers are designed to sink once expended, but they often wash up on shore as a result of wind, tide and current.

“Members of the public are reminded to leave suspect devices where they are found and to immediately call emergency services via 911 for assistance,” Nethercott added.

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