OSP detonates a hand grenade in Umapine
By Terry Murry on Friday, January 9th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UMAPINE – Umatilla County Commissioner Cindy Timmons got a shocking call from her daughter and son-in-law recently. They were cleaning outbuildings on Timmons’ parents farm, which they had purchased. Her son-in-law found an old coffee can and inside it was a hand grenade.
She immediately called Commissioner John Shafer, because of his years in law enforcement for the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office to ask for advice. His advice was clear. Get away from it and call 911.
Umatilla County Dispatch also told her to stay away from it and activated the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad.
The operation that resulted involved a robot that lost the hand grenade once, a drone that spotted it, and its eventual detonation by the experts. Timmons said she was told stories by both Shafer and the bomb squad of people who handled a hand grenade thinking it was safe and lost their lives.
“The moral of the story here is if you find something like that, make sure that you call dispatch (and) that you have Oregon State Police come out and take care of it,” she said.
Timmons talks about the incident on Thursday’s KUMA Coffee Hour. The podcast is at Coffee Hour Podcast clips – Omny.fm.
File photo of Umatilla County Commissioner Cindy Timmons
