Excitment of living in Hays.

We saw the lights and hoopla while browsing garage sales, but we were betting on a meth lab rather than a harmless pipe.

Errant tube becomes a bomb scare for police
May 25, 2007
By STACIE SANDALL
Hays Daily News
Just before Hays residents could get settled into a three-day Memorial Day weekend, the chaos of sirens, flashing lights and a loud “bang” penetrated the air late Friday afternoon.
According to Hays Police Sgt. Dan Koerner, at about 4:41 p.m. Fort Hays State University campus police officer Tom Meiers found what appeared to be a pipe bomb laying in the middle of the intersection of 13th Street and General Custer.
After it was exploded, it was determined that the device was nothing more than registration papers for a flat fed trailer owned by High Plains Roofing.
Koerner said the object was a six-inch piece of galvanized pipe, about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. It had end caps and a hole that looked like it was fuse-ready.
Meiers called the police department, and both HPD and the Hays Fire Department responded. Several blocks were cordoned off and the decision was made to call the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Wichita Police Department’s bomb squad was dispatched to the scene.
“They detonated the device and retrieved part of it for evidence,” Koerner said. “They use a very small amount of explosives that is going to basically preserve most of the evidence.”
But there weren’t any wires or a detonator. Instead, it was simply the registration papers.
Tom Phillips, owner of the company, was unaware of the incident until a call from the media Saturday morning.
“It’s just something we put together for years to keep the registrations dry and handy — until they fall off and cause a commotion,” he said. “What a way to get some publicity.”
Most of the tubes are welded to the flatbeds, though some are strapped down. High Plains Roofing uses the flatbeds to haul materials and equipment to and from job sites. Phillips said 13th Street is a common route for his trucks to get back to the office.
“If a roll of insulation fell off a truck, you’d notice it. But not one of those tubes,” Phillips said.
The event consumed a lot of manpower, time and resources, Koerner said. The entire ordeal took around six hours and drew a lot of attention from onlookers.
“We have to treat every incident like this as serious,” he said. “It did appear to be a pipe bomb. It was a damn costly deal for registration papers.”