Chemical identified in haz-mat incident

VERNON — The regional bomb squad and Bay County Haz-Mat were on the scene Thursday afternoon when reports came in of a possible dangerous fluid found at a residence at Pate Pond Road north of Vernon.

John Corley of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office said that an elderly man who lived at the house passed away recently, and when the family was checking out the house the fluid was found.

“The family beleived he might have had some explosive chemicals,” Corley said.

The Boy County and State Fire Marshall’s bomb squads that make up the regional bomb squad were called to the scene, and when the fluid was discovered haz-mat was called to assist.

“The kind of chemical is still unknown,” Corley said, “and this is basically a safety issue from our standpoint.”

Ruth Corley of the Bay County Sheriff's Office reported that tests showed that the chemicals were Nitroglycerin and other chemicals that Bomb Squad and Haz Mat were unable to identify.