FORT SMITH (KFSM) - The Fort Smith Bomb Squad was called in to investigate a suspicious device early Thursday morning (July 17).
The device, which Bomb Squad Commander Skip Mathews said turned out to just be a fan motor, with an LED light attached to it, was found just after 2 a.m. in a field near the Fred's off of Phoenix Avenue.
A Fort Smith police officer, who was working his normal route, said he found the device and decided to have the bomb squad come check it out.
"We got the call of a possible pipe bomb, with wires coming out of it," Mathews said. "Once we got here, we got set up and sent the robot down to get eyes on the device."
Two members of the bomb squad then suited up and went down to take x-rays of the device, Mathews said.
"It's definitely concerning," Mathews said. "You've always got to look at all of the options. You've got something that just does not look right, sticking out of a concrete cinder block, with wires on it and duct tape stuck around it. So I mean it's very, very suspicious. It could have been anything."
The bomb squad then analyzed the x-rays, and determined the device was not a bomb.
"I mean I don't know why somebody would build something like this," Mathews said. "I just don't know."
The bomb squad did disassemble the device as a precautionary measure around 4 a.m.
Fort Smith Police, Fire and EMS were also on scene while the bomb squad investigated the device.
