Explosives scare north of Durango ends not with a bang but ... an abundance of caution

Monday, Sep 29, 2025 4:29 PM Updated Tuesday, Sep. 30, 2025 1:32 PM

Hazardous material prompts evacuations, closure of U.S. Highway 550

Officials constructed a pile of sand called a fuse pit to safely ignite the materials found in the garage of an abandoned house. Luckily, the materials turned out not to be explosive but rather highly hazardous, likely a super-concentrated industrial bleach from the 1950s. (Courtesy of Randy Black)

Officials from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies responded Monday to the discovery of what they believed to be 50 pounds of highly explosive material in the garage of an abandoned house north of Durango.

Turns out, the mystery material wasn’t as explosive as feared.

Yet, out of an abundance of caution, emergency workers evacuated residents from within a half-mile of the house and closed U.S. Highway 550 for about an hour starting at 5 p.m. Monday in the 13000 block of East Animas Road (County Road 250) near Baker’s Bridge.

The Farmington Bomb Squad used its robots to remove the suspicious materials from the garage and into a sandpit ‒ called a fuse bed ‒ to be lit on fire. The pit was designed to prevent the material from causing untold damage, and the robot would alleviate the need to send a human being into a potentially dangerous area, said Randy Black, chief of the Durango Fire Protection District.

“We were following all of the bomb squad and FBI guidance based on what the bottles (of materials) looked like,” Black said. “Once they got them out, they tried to burn them. That did not work so they used the robot to take the bottles out of the packing that they were in, and they were a hazardous material, but not an explosive product.”

A suspicious substance found Monday in the garage of an abandoned house in the Animas Valley north of Durango. (Courtesy of Randy Black)

Officials originally thought the materials were liquid nitroglycerin, Black said. Since they did not explode when they were lit on fire, it became evident that it was more likely a super high-concentrated bleach, which was still highly hazardous, but not explosive.

“It’s likely bleach from the 50s that’s super concentrated for industrial use,” Black said. “The gas is toxic. That’s why the crews are having to wear air protection and splash suits for the cleanup piece. So it is a toxic, bad product. It just isn’t the explosive products that we were concerned that it was.”

Out of an abundance of caution, Black said officials ordered evacuations for people within a half mile of the 13000 block of East Animas Road, which is between Baker’s Bridge and Highway 550. Highway 550 was closed. When the bottles were found to be non-explosive, evacuation orders were lifted and the highway reopened.

“We didn't jump to the evacuation thing,” Black said. “This thing started around 11 (a.m.), so it took a long time for us to get people up there to identify the material and to make a plan. We tried to limit the public’s inconvenience to the short time when we were moving those bottles and didn’t know what they were.”

The bomb squad robots that emergency responders used to remove suspicious materials from an abandoned garage Monday north of Durango. (Courtesy of Randy Black)

Black said if someone finds explosive materials, they should immediately call law enforcement to ensure it is safely disposed of.

Participating agencies included Durango Fire Protection District, La Plata County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado Department of Transportation, Farmington Police Department Bomb Squad, FBI, La Plata County Road and Bridge and La Plata County’s Office of Emergency Management.