Bomb squad called after live cannonballs spotted at museum

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – Police and fire crews were called Tuesday to the Amelia Island Museum of History after a park ranger and historian with Fort Clinch spotted that two Civil War era cannonballs were "live."

The fire department was called after Frank Ofeldt raised concerns that the cannonballs might be filled with gunpowder, making them dangerous.

The Fernandina Beach police said the museum was evacuated as a precaution as the cannonballs were removed by the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office bomb squad.

They were taken to the Nassau County gun range where they were detonated. Investigators said the cannonballs were live.

One of the cannonballs had been a part of the Civil War exhibit at the museum for years, and the other was recently acquired. The museum had called Ofeldt in to look at the donated cannonball, and he alerted them that both might be dangerous.