FORKS — Long-term care unit patients at Forks Community Hospital were evacuated from their rooms for about five hours Friday afternoon after a woman walked into the hospital and said there was an unknown amount of explosives in her car parked outside.
The explosives, which were later identified as large fireworks mortars, did not belong to the woman and she went to the hospital seeking help in getting rid of them, Forks Police Chief Mike Powell said.
In all there were two mortars, Powell said. One was the size of a cantaloupe and the other was the size of a softball.
Twenty patients in the long-term care unit were moved farther away to the acute care unit, hospital Chief Operating and Financial Officer John Sherrett said.
A special license is required to possess such large fireworks, Powell said.
Boyfriend arrested
The woman’s boyfriend, Robert L. Kenney, 36, of Forks, was arrested for possessing explosives without a license, Powell said. The woman was not arrested.
A Washington State Patrol bomb unit was called. Unit members inspected the ordnance, extracted the bag they were in and transported them to storage, Powell said.
Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were contacted.
Powell said investigators will meet this week to determine if the size of the fireworks warrant federal charges.
Woman arrives after 1 p.m.
The woman entered the main hospital shortly after 1 p.m. and attempted to locate a social worker she knew, Sherrett said.
When she could not find the social worker, she went to the West End Outreach Counseling Service, which is located near the hospital. Employees there called police.
“That’s what started the ball rolling,” Sherrett said.
The woman was a client and went to the hospital because she was “fearful” and wanted to get rid of the fireworks, Powell said.