Bucyrus authorities investigating bomb look-alike

BUCYRUS – A package made to look like an explosive device had Bucyrus emergency responders on alert Monday night.

It was the first bomb scare the city has handled in years, Bucyrus Fire Chief Jay Keller said.

The fire department was called to 220 W. Warren St. at 7:36 p.m. when a resident reported a suspicious package that had showed up in their front yard, Keller said.

Crews arrived to find a small package "no bigger than a pack of cigarettes" had been placed at the edge of the resident's home, Keller said. The resident told authorities they had stepped inside for 30 minutes when the package appeared.

A wire sticking out of the package and attached with duct tape made firefighters suspicious, Keller said. They took a picture of the package and sent it to Columbus's bomb squad to determine if the threat was credible, which prompted the department to send a crew, he said.

"When they cut it open it looked like a pill bottle," Keller said. "Someone had tried to make it look like an explosive device."

Bucyrus police continue to investigate the incident.

kdurbin@gannett.com

419-521-7205

Twitter: @njKaitlinDurbin