Hungry Horse 'pipe bomb' turned out to be empty
A robot from the Missoula bomb squad carries away what appears to be a pipe bomb from the town square in Hungry Horse Monday night. (Lily Cullen photo)
A bomb squad from Missoula was called in for what appeared to be a pipe bomb in Hungry Horse Monday evening.
The Flathead County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a possible pipe bomb in Hungry Horse Monday afternoon after groundskeepers found what they thought was a bomb in the lawn in front of the Dam Town Tavern in the town square.
Deputies cordoned off an area in front of the Dam Town Tavern and phoned a bomb squad from Missoula.
When the bomb squad arrived around 6 p.m., they approached and safely defused what appeared to be a pipe bomb with the use of a robot. The robot picked up the device and carried it out of the lawn. The device was placed in a safe container and detonated by a member of the bomb squad.
Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said Tuesday the device was found to be empty and may have been a hoax.
No one was injured and no property was damaged.
The incident remains under investigation. U.S. Highway 2 was not closed at any point during the afternoon.