RV engulfed in flames in a Cocoa bakyard had exploding live ammunition inside
About a half-mile area surrounding a property in Cocoa was evacuated Wednesday morning after police found a variety of explosive ammunition inside a recreational vehicle that earlier erupted in fire in the backyard of a home.
"There was a mix of ammunition between military grade ammunition and ordnance and local civilian grade ordnance," said Cocoa Fire Chief Jonathan Lamm. "Nothing criminal at this point has been found that was stored or involved in the fire."
The evacuation around McLeod Drive continued well into Wednesday until 2:40 p.m., when rescue and law enforcement officials were leaving the area and people were allowed back into the neighborhood.
Patrick Space Force's bomb squad had disposed of the ammunition and determined the area to be safe, Lamm said.
Police said there were no injuries.
Police found explosives in the backyard
The incident began just after midnight, when the Cocoa Police Department responded to 330 McLeod Drive for reports of a fire, where they found a home on fire and an RV engulfed in flames, according to the chief.
When police investigated, they found that the property at 330 Mc Leod Drive had explosives in the RV in the backyard, which had been going off during the night and causing damage to the house.
After the fire was extinguished, a tree caught fire on a property north of where the original fire began, police said.
"(Officers) conducted additional investigations and located what looked to be live explosives," said Yvonne Martinez, a spokesperson for Cocoa Police. "Some of them had actually gone off and damaged the structure of the house that had the fire last night."
Surrounding homes were evacuated
Surrounding homes were evacuated out of caution, and officers blocked off access to McLeod Drive between U.S. 1 and Dixie Court to Bellaire Drive on the south and Grandview Boulevard on the north.
Lamm said the cause of the fire in the RV is still under investigation by the state fire marshal.
The home was deemd unsafe to inhabit, and it's now up to the homeowner to remediate it, Lamm said.
Multiple agencies had been working the fires into Wednesday afternoon, including Patrick Space Force's and Brevard County Sheriff's Office's bomb squads, Cocoa Police, Cocoa Fire Department, Brevard County Fire Rescue, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the state Fire Marshal's Office.
Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or fwalker@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @_finchwalker
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa backyard: area evacuated after police find explosives
