Object Prompting Shutdown Of Highway 12 Near Fairfield Not A Bomb, Was Tube For Geocaching

FAIRFIELD (CBS SF) -- A prize from a scavenger hunt looked like a possible bomb to highway work crews and prompted the California Highway Patrol to shut down state Highway 12 at Interstate Highway 80 near Fairfield Tuesday afternoon, a CHP officer said.

A Caltrans work crew working along the highway found a tube affixed with magnets and tape to a streetlight pole at 12:24 p.m., CHP Officer Chris Parker said.

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The CHP responded and also could not identify the device. As a precaution, the highway was closed as well as westbound Highway 80 at Red Top Road.

The Napa County sheriff's bomb squad responded and used water to dislodge it from the light pole, Parker said.

The bomb squad determined that it was a tube affixed to the pole for a Geocaching game—a scavenger hunt-like game where players are directed to a prize or further instructions through GPS coordinates, Parker said.

He was not sure what the tube contained. The roadways reopened by 3 p.m., CHP officials said.

I-80