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Nose hair trimmer briefly halts mail service

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 15, 2009 05:02 PM

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

The Cambridge bomb squad descended on the Central Square post office this morning, ultimately -- it turns out -- because of a buzzing electric nose hair trimmer.

A birthday package sent to an MIT staff member aroused suspicion at about 7:30 a.m. today when it wouldn’t stop humming. Postal workers contacted the authorities, and the building was evacuated for 90 minutes.

“There was a suspicious package, kicking, making noise, vibrating—they got concerned,” said Cambridge Police spokesman Frank Pasquerello. “We had to take the certain precautions.”

Cambridge police and fire officials responded to the call at 770 Massachusetts Avenue, as did the bomb squad van. The U.S. Postal Inspectional Services team was also on the scene. Green and Pleasant streets were temporarily closed.

Calls to the sender’s address in Virginia went unanswered, prompting Cambridge bomb technicians to open the package with care, Pasquerello said.

When contacted, the MIT-employed recipient confirmed he was expecting a package, said USPS spokeswoman Bernadette Lundbohm.

The package contained candy, CDs, and the nose hair clippers, Lundbohm said. The battery-powered trimmer had somehow turned on inside the box.

“People need to take the batteries out before mailing,” Lundholm said.

The postal service delivers 203 billion pieces of mail per year, and there is about one potentially dangerous package for every 22 billion, she said.

“Ninety-nine percent of these situations are false alarms or hoaxes,” she said. “And 90 percent of them involve batteries.”

During Christmas 2003, several suspicious vibrating packages turned out to be bouncing Tigger toys, she said.