A vintage piece of fire-fighting equipment caused a bomb scare in northwest Denver Thursday night.
The device, shaped like a large Christmas ornament or lava lamp, is filled with fire retardant, said Lt. Phil Champagne.
It was in a box marked “explosives” and “fragile” wrapped in a blanket and left outside Denver Fire Department Station 17 at 4500 Tennyson Street
“It looked pretty ominous when we looked at it on an X-ray,” Champagne said.
He said one of the fire officials at the scene recognized what it was. “I don’t think anybody has seen one of these since the ’70s,” Champagne said.
How the box got outside the fire station and who put it there is under investigation.
“It could be that someone found it in their attic and didn’t know what else to do with it,” he said.
The fire station and two homes were evacuated during the investigation.
