Woman finds live grenade while cleaning out deceased father's home in Knowlton, Que.
A woman cleaning out her deceased father's home in the Quebec town of Knowlton made a bombshell discovery on Friday – she found a live grenade.
Kedrin Simms Brachman said she was going through the Eastern Townships home when she found it in a toolbox.
"We went into his tool room, which was always, like, nobody ever went into his tool room. That was a sacred place," she said. I was looking for something, and then I opened up the toolbox, and there was a grenade."
Simms Brachman said she wasn't immediately sure what the best course of action was and called her stepsister in from another room.
"I'm like, what do we do with it? Do we pick it up? Do we drive it to the police? You know, how do we take care of it?" she said. "I don't want to touch this thing. It's a grenade."
They didn't touch it – instead, they called the provincial police (Sûreté du Québec) non-emergency line and reported their finding. They were immediately transferred to the emergency line.
"They said, 'Okay, are you guys not touching it?' I said, 'No, we're not touching it. We don't want anything to do with it. Please come get it,'" she recalled.
An SQ officer arrived at the home, and after sending pictures to his supervisors, told Simms Brachman it appeared to be an antique grenade. He would need to call in the Canadian Armed Forces.
As they waited for the army to arrive, the SQ officer told her, "Don't go down and touch it."
"And I said no plans on touching it. No plan," she said. "I wanted it out of the house."
Soon after, two members of the army arrived with an artillery case, said Simms Brachman.
She said army officers quickly realized the grenade was indeed live, telling her, "We normally get calls for these antique things and they aren't live."
But this one was.
"It had a detonator and everything in it. It was intact, so they secured it. They loaded it in their truck, and off we went."
Two members of the Canadian Armed Forces secured the grenade (Kedrin Simms Brachman)
The Canadian Armed Forces point out if you see something that looks like it may be an unexploded explosive ordnance (UXO), follow these steps:
- Don't touch it.
- Note the location and leave the area.
- Call 911 or local police.
The woman, who now lives in Virginia, said she recalled seeing the grenade decades ago in her dad's home, but never thought he'd kept it. She said she has no idea where it originated from.
"I recall years ago that I believe that came from my grandfather's house. So after my grandfather passed away, and I recall Dad brought it. I remember – this was like over 30 years ago – I said, 'You need to get rid of that,'" she said. "And we all thought he had."
Now that any danger has been averted, Simms Brachman had to chuckle about the incident, saying her father, who died in October, was a character, and this was just another story to remember him by.
Frank Simms died in October. The grenade was found in his home. (Kedrin Simms Brachman)"He had a lot of stories and he always liked to entertain, so this was not necessarily completely out of the realm… but finding a grenade was definitely a weird one," she said.
"When everything was all clear, I went back around and told the neighbours. They were all now laughing and they were like, 'Well, Frank wants to make sure we're on our toes.' That's it in a nutshell. Frank wanted to make sure we remembered him."
Simms Brachman said anyone who finds a grenade should take it seriously, and not take any risks.
"If you find a grenade or any old ammunition… you need to call the police," she said. "They followed their protocol and were wonderful and I'm sure this was one of their one of their strangest stories for a while, too."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6979388.1722030190!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Peel police say.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
FBI says Trump was indeed struck by bullet during assassination attempt
Nearly two weeks after Donald Trump’s near assassination, the FBI confirmed Friday that it was indeed a bullet that struck the former president’s ear, moving to clear up conflicting accounts about what caused the former U.S. president’s injuries after a gunman opened fire at a Pennsylvania rally.