A Duncan school and six homes were evacuated Friday after someone gardening on Auchinachie Road notified North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP that explosives had been discovered.
Classes at Ecole Mount Prevost Elementary were cancelled for the day, and students and staff gathered on the Somenos soccer fields, where the students were picked up.
Cowichan Valley School District spokesman Mike Russell said the school was cleared “out of an abundance of caution.”
Police said the RCMP Explosive Disposal Unit was called in but hadn’t arrived by mid-afternoon, since it was coming from a deployment in the Interior.
“We’re in the preliminary stages of the investigation, but these explosives appear to have been historically stored where they were found, but that is still to be determined,” said B.C. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Chris Manseau.
He said Emergency Social Services was in the area to help residents affected by the evacuation.
