Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS

HOLLIS – A customer digging through items looking for bargains at a residential estate sale Saturday made quite the unexpected find, according to police: A set of hand grenades.

What’s more, the grenades were live and still full of explosives, and could have exploded if not handled properly.

The homeowners called police and firefighters around 11 a.m. to the residence, 28 Old Runnells Bridge Road, which is near the intersection of Gilson Road just over the Nashua-Hollis line.

In the meantime, the residents and customers vacated the area, and shortly after their arrival first responders contacted Nashua police to request assistance from a member of the department’s Bomb Squad.

A bomb technician from Nashua examined the devices and determined that they were in fact still live.

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS Hollis fire vehicles and an ambulance block off a section of Old Runnells Bridge Road while investigators dealt with live hand grenades discovered at a residential estate sale Saturday afternoon. No injuries were reported. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

The technician secured the grenades and removed them from the property, according to Hollis police Sgt. Jonathan Tate. They were taken to Nashua police headquarters to be safely disposed of, Tate said.

A section of Old Runnells Bridge Road was closed for about three hours to keep vehicles and pedestrians away until the devices were removed. The road reopened around 2 p.m.

–JEFFREY HASTINGS

Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS The Hollis fire chief's car is parked in front of 28 Old Runnells Bridge Road Saturday afternoon while firefighters, police and a Nashua bomb squad member investigated live hand grenades that turned up at an estate sale. (Photo by JEFFREY HASTINGS)

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