Anne Arundel fire investigators blocked a part of Ritchie Highway late Saturday and early yesterday while they delicately examined a 25-pound bomb that turned out to be a dummy.
County and state bomb squads responded at 10:51 p.m. Saturday to a report of something that looked like a bomb next to a trash bin behind a High's store at Ritchie Highway and Earleigh Heights Road in Pasadena.
After X-rays were taken, investigators determined two hours later that the object was a practice bomb of the type that would be dropped from military aircraft.
Home nearly destroyed by early morning blaze
A $225,000 home in Pasadena was nearly destroyed by fire early yesterday, but no one was hurt in the blaze, authorities said.
Fire officials said Gregory Allen Poloni, who lives alone, arrived home at 3:30 a.m. to find his 1 1/2 -story home in the 7700 block of Paradise Beach Road ablaze. Thirty-five firefighters and 16 pieces of equipment responded to the alarm. They brought the fire under control at 4:31 a.m., but not before an estimated $175,000 damage had been done to the structure.
Battalion Chief Gary Sheckells said the fire started in a basement heating equipment room.
The cause was under investigation.