Renovation work at a Kalgoorlie-Boulder surveying office has uncovered a dangerous piece of local history, with a stash of explosives dating back more than seven decades discovered hidden beneath a back deck.
Construction Crew Stumbles on Historical Cache
The unexpected find occurred on Wednesday morning at the Cheetham Street offices of Element Geospatial. Workers were carrying out renovations on the building's rear deck when they unearthed a hessian sack buried below the structure.
The bag, labelled as a sugar sack, contained old explosives and was wrapped in a dated edition of the Kalgoorlie Miner newspaper from August 6, 1955, providing a clear timestamp for the cache's origins. Matt Jones, the Kalgoorlie team leader for Element Geospatial, explained the discovery was made under an inspection hatch in the decking, concealed beneath layers of accumulated rubbish and dirt.
Swift Police Response and Safe Removal
Upon making the discovery, the construction crew immediately alerted authorities. Several police and fire safety units were deployed to the scene, and the surrounding area was promptly evacuated as a precaution.
A specialist police bomb squad made the journey from Perth to handle the situation. They arrived on-site at approximately 4:30pm and had safely removed the explosives by 5:15pm, declaring the area clear. A police spokesperson later confirmed that the historical explosives posed no immediate risk to the public during the incident.
Mystery of the Buried Explosives
The discovery has raised questions about why the explosives were placed under the deck, potentially decades ago. "It's obviously been put underneath the deck at some stage," Mr Jones noted, pointing out that drains feed under the area where the sack was found.
The use of a local newspaper for wrapping places the items firmly in Kalgoorlie's past, offering a tangible link to the region's mid-20th century history. The safe resolution of the incident highlights the continued importance of reporting suspicious finds to emergency services, no matter how old they may appear.
