A Monday incident in Tomah involving suspected dynamite near the Amtrak station turned out to be fireworks instead.
According to the Tomah Police Department, officers were called to Washington Street around 10 a.m. after receiving information that a person was in possession of dynamite. There were no threats connected to the report, but police blocked off streets around the Amtrak station for nearly six hours and attempted to locate the owner of the vehicle where the explosives were suspected to be stored.
Tomah police summoned a Dane County explosives detection unit, which secured the suspicious items from the vehicle. They were taken back to Dane County, where technicians identified them as “aerial fireworks.”
Assistant Police Chief Eric Pedersen said the department posted photos of the explosives online “so that our community understands why it wasn’t obvious to us, or the experts, what they were and why we responded with such caution.”
No charges have been filed, but Pedersen said the case is being discussed with the Monroe County District Attorney.
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