Teen’s hand severed in explosion

A teenager’s hand was severed in an explosion on Wednesday evening in Jefferson County.

The sheriff’s office said two 14-year-old boys found an explosive device behind a granary on the 3000 block of East 500 North on Wednesday evening.

“We realized that two juveniles had found an omniblast explosive device that’s used for distraction, and it was used by the military years ago, but is now discontinued,” said Chief Deputy Steve Anderson.

The mother of one of the boys said they found it sticking out of some needs near the granary and twisted the top off, blowing off the fingers of one teen and blowing out the eardrum of the other.

The other mother called the incident into Jefferson County 911 dispatch center.

One of the boys was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and later to Primary Children’s Hospital for further treatment. The other was taken by ambulance to EIRMC, treated and released.

The teen that was more severely injured is expected to recover, but doctors are doubtful that his fingers can be reattached, according to parents.

This is an incident police said could have happened anywhere.

“There are instances where there are old explosives around old farms and ranches that people used for work purposes several years ago,” said Anderson.

Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho Falls Police Department Bomb Squad helped respond to the accident.

Sheriff Blair Olsen is telling people that if they find something that looks suspicious or unusual to report it to his office.