Crews safely detonate three WWII-era bombs in Florida bay
Bombs were discovered in the Choctawhatchee Bay in the Shalimar area. (Credit: Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners/Facebook)
Officials safely detonated three World War II-era bombs that were discovered in a Florida bay.
The bombs were disposed of after being discovered back in January in the Choctawhatchee Bay in the state's panhandle.
Footage shared on Facebook shows Okaloosa County working with partnering agencies to detonate the all-purpose bombs.
"Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole," a man could be heard saying before each explosion caused water to rise from the surface.
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Onlookers watch as bombs are detonated in a Florida panhandle area bay. (Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners)
The video caused some to ask how the bombs had ended up in the bay in the first place. Two had been found by environmental restoration contractors working for the Army Corps of Engineers, and the third had been discovered during a routine Air Force investigation.
"Hope no one has any plans to fish that area for the next year," one Facebook user wrote in response to a subsequent Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners post that included photos of the detonations.
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"Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole," could be heard in the video of the detonations posted to Facebook. (Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners)
Eglin Air Force Base identified the unexploded ordnances as "two 250-pound bombs and a 1000-pound bomb" in a Facebook post.
The Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners thanked the Fort Walton Yacht Club for allowing "the coordination of this multi-agency effort from the shores of their property."
Multiple agencies and the media watched as the WWII-era bombs were detonated on February 14, 2024. (Okaloosa Board of County Commissioners)
Earlier this month, a 1,000-pound World War II-era bomb was unearthed at a regional airport in Florida, prompting evacuations until officials determined that the ordnance was inert.
A team from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa was sent to dispose of the inert bomb.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
