UPDATE, 10:30 a.m.: Turns out the device was “inert.” Not a bomb. Here’s what EPD has to say:

On 04/21/16 at about 7:30 a.m., Officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to California and West Washington Streets for the report of what appeared to be an explosive device near a telephone pole.

The Humboldt County Sheriff Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team (EOD) responded and rendered the device safe.  The device was ultimately found to be inert.

California Street at West Washington was closed during the investigation.  The road was opened up at about 9:25 a.m.

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UPDATE, 9:30 a.m.: Here’s the Outpost’s Ryan Burns debriefing KHUM’s Cliff Berkowitz on this incident:

KHUM

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UPDATE, 9:15 a.m.: The bomb-bot has put a bullet in that thing’s brain, whatever it was. Still no official call on whether it was an actual, primed pipe bomb or not.

Videos of the bot in action below:, courtesy the LoCO’s Ryan Burns:

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Photo: Ryan Burns.

UPDATE, 8:52 a.m.: The Bomb-bot is at the scene, reports Ryan Burns.

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Eureka’s California Street is closed between Washington and Grant this morning, after a suspected explosive device was found near a telephone pole. Washington is also closed.

A neighbor who asked not to be named tells the Outpost’s Ryan Burns that his 7-year-old found the device on the sidewalk this morning at about 7:40 a.m. He says that it looked like a pipe bomb in a burlap sack — a short pipe capped on both ends and sealed with electrical tape. He said he told the kid to put the device down, and then he called 911.

The Eureka Police Department’s Brittany Powell does not yet have much information on the device, but said that it is reported to be some four to six inches long.

The Eureka Police Department has secured the scene and is awaiting the arrival of the Sheriff’s Office’s bomb squad. We will update when we know more.