OROVILLE – The contents of a 1936 Girl Scout first aid kit caused a kerfuffle downtown on Friday that resulted in a response from the Oroville Police Department bomb squad and the closing of the 1300 block of Huntoon Street for a short time.
The event took place at the Argonaut Parlor No. 8, Native Sons of the Golden West headquarters at 1332 Huntoon Street when member Karen Von Bargen was sorting through a box of her deceased mother’s antiques. Among the items was the small first aid kit which contained two “very small, tiny, really” gauze pads of picric acid, said her husband, Carl Von Bargen.
“Karen didn’t know what (picric acid) was so she googled it. She’s a googler,” said Carl Von Bargen, also a Native Son member. “When she read that it was an unstable substance she thought ‘dear God,’ I better figure out what to do with it.’ She didn’t really think it was a big deal because it was such a small amount. She just wanted to know the right way to dispose of it.”
Picric acid is a chemical “used as an explosive in large quantities and an antiseptic in small quantities in the past. If the chemical becomes dry, it becomes unstable and has the possibility of spontaneously combusting,” according to an Oroville Police Department press release.
Karen Von Bargen called the Oroville Fire Department to ask them how to dispose of the substance.
“If it had been me, I’d have just tossed them in the garbage but Karen is the ‘do everything right’ person,” said Carl Von Bargen. “So, she called the fire department and the next thing she knew there was a full-on response. She really wasn’t expecting that.”
OPD received the call about the picric acid at about 1:19 p.m. and, as a safety precaution, dispatched the bomb squad. Residents and businesses in the east portion of the block of Huntoon Street and Montgomery Street were contacted and advised to evacuate if possible. The roadway of Huntoon Street at that block was also barricaded to limit vehicles and pedestrians from traveling in the area. Butte EMS were staged as well. The bomb squad personnel arrived on scene and, within minutes, were able to collect the two gauze pads without incident, according the press release.
“The kit is just this little tiny thing with old band aids, tiny scissors, stuff like that,” said Carl Von Bargen. “It’s actually a pretty cool little antique. We’ll probably use it in our summer window display.”