HARTLINE – Grant County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a residence in 600 block of Willard Street in Hartline on Monday after a 3-year-old boy found a live hand grenade in his family’s front yard. The grenade has since been safely disposed of by a Washington State Patrol bomb squad. 

“He found what appears to be a World War II vintage fragmentation grenade,” said Grant County Sheriff’s Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman.  

The boy brought the grenade into his house, and his parents immediately recognized it as a grenade, took it into their shop and called 9-1-1 at around 6:45 p.m. Foreman said when GCSO deputies arrived on scene, they took some photographs and sent the photos over to the WSP bomb squad.  

He said the WSP believed the grenade to be a live device and responded with bomb techs on the scene. The bomb techs carefully removed the device from the shop and took it to a rural area north of Hartline to dispose of the grenade. 

It is unknown how the grenade ended up in the family’s front yard, nor how long it had been there, but the device showed clear signs of being exposed to the elements for some time. 

“We do have calls involving found ordinance. In many cases, it’s grenades or similar munitions that were brought home from a war by a relative and sometimes they don’t get discovered until the relative passes away and the family is cleaning out the house,” said Foreman.  

If any ordinance, grenades or munitions are ever found, he said that the individual who discovered them should leave the device alone and call 911 immediately to have them investigate the situation.