Suspicious Drums Spur Evacuation of 700

Authorities evacuated about 700 people from a south Oxnard industrial center and nearby mobile home park Wednesday after two military-issue metal drums marked “high explosives” were found in a vacant lot.

After a lengthy investigation, a bomb squad determined the barrels were empty--but not before many business owners in the Channel Islands Business Park told employees to take the afternoon off.

And for a few hours, residents of the Kona Kai mobile home park waited nervously as hazardous materials investigators picked through the weedy lot, examining the potential threat.

“They just pounded on my door and said I had to leave,” said 65-year-old Wanda Willcuts, who rushed outside barefoot, scrambling to take her two dogs with her. “We just had to get out of here.”

The evacuation began about noon after a street-repair crew came across the pair of dark green drums near Rose and Emerson avenues. The warning label prompted them to alert local authorities, who quickly converged on the park and closed several nearby roads.

County bomb squad officials cautiously probed the scene, while Oxnard firefighters went door-to-door and told people to clear out. About 20 businesses within a half mile of the drums were vacated, along with the west end of the 160-unit mobile home park.

Many workers congregated at the nearby McDonald’s restaurant, using the pay phone to call customers and cancel appointments.

As the evacuation stretched into midafternoon, some businesses decided to call it a day and sent employees home. When the scene was declared safe about 2:30 p.m., much of the business park remained empty.

“We’ve got a night shift coming in, but we’ve lost about four hours,” said Walt Pittman, owner of Rakar Inc., which makes insulation for aerospace parks. About 70 Rakar workers went home early.

But Daniel Roy Gilden, a city Fire Department spokesman, called the precautions necessary.

“It’s something we never take a chance on,” he said. Sheriff’s bomb squad workers, who used a rope to pull off the barrel lids, found nothing inside, authorities said. And they said it would be difficult to determine exactly where the 40-gallon drums came from and who left them.

“It’s hard to find out, unless you have an eyewitness. It’s basically illegal dumping,” said Clarence Slayton, an Oxnard fire battalion chief.

City officials called for the evacuation of the 211-acre Channel Islands Business Park, one of the city’s employment hubs. Its 75 firms include golf-bag maker Belding Sports, Ironman Magazine, denture-maker American Tooth and several apparel companies.