The New Year came in with a bang for one neighborhood in Beaufort County, after a property owner found a box containing 113 sticks of unexploded dynamite while cleaning out an old farm building on Leggett Road.

What followed was a 911 call that prompted response from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, Beaufort County Emergency Services, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Bomb Squad.

“The property owners definitely made the right call in trying to get help to get that taken care of,” said Chris Newkirk, Beaufort County Operations Chief of Fire/Emergency Management. “We just ran it from protocol from there.”

Once the bomb squad arrived on scene, the dynamite was detonated in three controlled explosions that could be heard and felt for miles throughout the surrounding area. Newkirk said the explosives were detonated on site where they were found.

The dynamite was discovered early Wednesday morning, and Beaufort County Emergency Services was notified by mid-morning of the situation. The SBI conducted the controlled detonations starting around 2 p.m. Wednesday.

A homeowner in the Rosedale subdivision, which sits on the other side of the woods from the farm property, said the explosions were powerful enough to shake homes and set off car alarms in the neighborhood. Others were able to hear the blast as far away as Market Street Extension.

Newkirk says 911 operators and local first responders were notified before the detonations so they could properly field calls from area residents. However, because there were no homes in the immediate area, there was no mass notification to residents.

“We typically don’t send out widespread notifications on that, the reason being, when we do that, it tends to draw a crowd,” Newkirk said. “Everyone wants to come out and see that and we would much rather try not to interfere with the public’s daily routine as much as possible when we’re trying to do something like that, so no mass notifications were given.”

In North Carolina, state law dictates that dynamite and other powerful explosives can only be purchased after filling out a written application containing a statement of purpose on how the explosives will be used. Decades ago, before regulations were tightened, it was fairly common practice to use dynamite for land clearing on farms.

Aside from that one incident, Newkirk said he was aware of no major emergencies throughout the county going into 2020. Local law enforcement officials also reported a fairly quiet holiday.

“We could still be affected by something we don’t know about yet, but really things were pretty good,” said BCSO Chief Deputy Charlie Rose. “We had some calls for service, but really nothing of note as far as any major crimes or circumstances over the time really.”

“Everybody was safe and responsible,” Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford added. “We really didn’t have any major issues.”

Statewide, the North Carolina Highway Patrol conducted a number of traffic enforcement operations, including locally. The NCSHP was on the lookout for motorists driving while impaired, restraint violations, distracted driving and speeding.

“We had different campaigns all across the state,” said NCSHP First Sgt. Gary Brown. “We had a very quiet holiday, and I hope that’s something we can look forward to this year.”