Geocaching Game Triggers Bomb Squad

Geocaching is a hide and seek treasure hunt for the 21st Century. You download cache coordinates onto your GPS and set out to find a box filled with items. Geocache boxes are often old ammunition cases because they can withstand any weather condition, but Conway officials are asking you to change the rules to stop false alarms.

Todd Cardin with the Conway Bomb Squad says this box is what triggered a bomb scare Tuesday. "A gentleman witnessed a lady leaning over a concrete rail at the South East corner of the airport and it looked suspicious what she was doing and he went over there when they left and he saw this ammo can," Cardin explains.

He says this is the third geocache box they've responded to and even though some are labeled they still have to follow protocol.

Cardin says, "When we get the call we treat it as a bomb until its proven and we don't know otherwise until we've disposed of the package."

The bomb squad uses its remote-controlled robotic vehicle to make initial contact and that means valuable time and tax payer dollars.

"So you're looking at probably six or eight fire department personal, two three four police men and than a squad from MEMS and it typically takes about an hour to handle a scene like this," Cardin adds.

There are currently more than 700 geocaches in the Conway area alone. Cardin says they don't want to ban the game they just want to keep it safe for everyone and ask that you use a clear container and label it "geocache."

"We need to know that as a bomb squad what's in that package and we won't mess with it. If it's a clear package that would be great," Cardin asks.

The last two geocache boxes belong to the same Conway man. He isn't being charged, but he is taking responsibility for notifying all geocache members to use clear containers.

Geocaching has been banned in some parts of the U.S., but there are still more than 800,000 active caches worldwide.

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