BREMERTON – The area surrounding Kitsap County’s hazardous waste disposal site on Imperial Way was evacuated Friday afternoon after someone brought a container of potentially explosive material to the location, fire officials said. A Washington State Patrol bomb squad unit was called to handle the substance.
South Kitsap Fire and Rescue Captain Laine Desilets said that first responders were initially notified about the material at the site at about 2:15 p.m. People were evacuated from the area, and roads were closed. At about 5 p.m., Desilets said that no one had been injured and said that the substance was still in the vehicle that was used to take it to the facility.
Bremerton Fire Department Assistant Chief John Payne said the material was picric acid that was primarily in a crystalized form, which he described as “extraordinarily dangerous.” Payne said it had been reported that the acid had been sitting out in a jug in a yard for “years” before it was driven to the county facility.
“It’s like driving with sticks of dynamite that are all crystalized,” Payne said. “It’s very dangerous.”