Bomb Squad Removes Live Mortar Round Found on Bowdoinham Property

A live 81mm M374 mortar round discovered on White Road in Bowdoinham on March 21 brought Maine State Police bomb technicians to the rural Sagadahoc County property after the sheriff's office received a call about a suspicious item at approximately 2:27 p.m.

Technicians x-rayed the round on scene. The imaging revealed indicators the mortar could be potentially hazardous, prompting the team to transport it to a secure location to be rendered safe rather than attempting on-site disposal. The 81mm M374 is a sizable piece of military ordnance that can remain dangerously unstable even when decades old.

The Bowdoinham response was one of two separate explosive ordnance calls the Maine State Police Bomb Squad handled that same afternoon. Later that day, technicians responded to a residence on Main Street in Winslow, where a World War II-era MK2 hand grenade had turned up. That device was also transported for safe disposal.

Two discovered munitions in a single day is a reminder that live ordnance surfaces in private hands across older Northeastern states more often than most people expect. Weapons from mid-20th-century military training exercises, surplus stockpiles, or inherited estates can sit undiscovered in attics, barns, and fields for generations before appearing during a cleanout or excavation.

Anyone in Bowdoinham or elsewhere in Sagadahoc County who finds a rusted canister, unusual metallic object, or anything resembling military hardware should leave it untouched, clear the immediate area, and call 911. The Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office coordinates with the Maine State Police Bomb Squad for removal; municipal departments in Bath, Brunswick, and Topsham follow the same protocol. Do not attempt to move, examine, or transport the item.

The March 21 response illustrates how these calls are designed to work: local law enforcement secures the scene while specialized technicians handle diagnostics and transport. In the Bowdoinham case, that protocol very likely prevented a dangerous outcome for the property owners who found the round.