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Residents evacuated in North End bomb scare

E-mail|Link|Comments () October 5, 2009 04:51 PM

By Jack Nicas, Globe Correspondent

The Boston Police Department bomb squad safely detonated a hoax pipe bomb this morning in a vacant North End apartment, police said.

“They weren’t sure exactly what it was, so to be on the safe side, they detonated it,” said officer Jill Flynn, a Boston police spokeswoman.

Police said they found a device that appeared to be a pipe bomb in a vacant unit at 57 Fulton St. Police are “familiar” with the apartment’s former tenant, said officer Joe Zanoli, a Boston police spokesman.

“We’ve had contact with that individual in the past,” he said.

Zanoli said the bomb squad conducted a “controlled detonation” at about 10:30 a.m., approximately 90 minutes after they responded to the scene.

Several Fulton Street residents contacted by the Globe said they did not hear any explosions this morning.

Celine Pan, who lives two doors down, said her entire apartment building was evacuated at 10 a.m. But after that, she said, “nothing happened at all.”

Another neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said she ducked under police tape across her building’s front door when she left for work just after 10 a.m. She said police did not evacuate her building, which is three or more doors down, but an officer outside told her they were investigating a neighbor reported to have hand grenades.

Zanoli confirmed there was chatter about grenades on police radio, but that there were none present.

Police sealed off one block of Fulton Street, between Cross and Richmond Streets, for several hours. The scene was cleared by 2 p.m.