Austin bomb squad uses X-rays to confirm WWII-era grenades live at estate sale

At least three of several grenades identified as Mk 2 ‘pineapple’ grenades

Austin Police Department bomb squad technicians used X-rays to confirm that several second world war-era grenades found in a box at an Austin, Texas, estate sale were live, then removed and disarmed them without incident, The Guardian and Austin’s KLBJ news station reported.

KLBJ identified at least three of the olive-colored grenades as Mk 2 anti-personnel fragmentation grenades, widely used by US forces during the second world war and known as “pineapple” grenades because of their distinctive shape. The grenades remained in limited use with the US Army and Marine Corps until the 1960s, according to the station. The station said the highly explosive devices did not pose an immediate threat under the circumstances, allowing technicians to remove and disarm them.

The grenades had been purchased in a box at an Austin estate sale on Monday, the Austin Police Association said. A buyer discovered the devices only as he was rifling through several boxes of his new items, prompting a neighborhood lockdown and a visit from the city’s bomb squad.

The association described the grenades as “live and active” in a social media post and credited bomb squad members with “training, expertise, and steady nerves” rarely seen by the public. “Handling 80-year-old explosives with unknown stability is dangerous, precise work, and they do it with the professionalism this city counts on,” the post read.

“Huge thanks to our patrol officers, who quickly secured the scene, set up a perimeter, and kept neighbors safe while they waited for EOD [explosive ordnance disposal],” the association added.

In a public-safety advisory, the association emphasized that no crime had occurred: “No crime here. Just a great reminder, if you ever come across old military ordnance (grenades, shells, mortar rounds, etc), even if you think it’s inert, don’t touch it, don’t move it, and call 911. Let the experts handle it.”

The Guardian previously reported on the hazards specialist teams face in dealing with decades-old unexploded ordnance, including the degradation of fuses and the increasing instability of the munitions over time. That reporting followed the discovery of two large unexploded German bombs found separately in the UK county of Devon — one on a floating dredger and another on a building site. Experts told the Guardian the devices “could knock a whole street down.”

The association did not identify the seller or the buyer of the box of grenades.