An imitation bomb left over from a Halloween costume triggered the evacuation of an entire city block in North Vancouver Thursday morning.
A man out walking his dog in the 500-block of East 17th Street called RCMP after he saw the what looked like a bomb lying on a front lawn. It appeared to be several sticks of red dynamite taped together, with wires poking out and a keypad attached.
"Because it looked real, because it looked like it could have been a dangerous device, we cordoned off a number of blocks -- about four blocks -- and we started evacuating residents," Cpl. Peter Devries told reporters after the scare.
Residents of between 15 and 20 homes were removed from the area for about two hours.
The Mounties then called in the explosives disposal unit, along with firefighters and ambulance crews. The explosives specialists sent in a robot equipped with cameras, lasers and a water cannon -- and discovered that the bomb wasn't real.
Investigators believe the resident was cleaning out his truck to pack for a trip when he left the fake bomb lying on the lawn. He was out of town at the time of the scare.
Police aren't recommending charges.
