WINTERPORT — A suspicious item on the premises of a foreclosed Winterport property July 21 led the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office to call in the Maine State Police Bomb Squad to assist. 

The initial call came from a financial institution that reportedly expressed concern about the possibility of someone unlawfully on the premises.

Deputies Ben Seekins and Cody Laite responded to the residence, a foreclosed property located on Meadow Road in Winterport. 

Upon arriving at the residence, Deputies Seekins and Laite reportedly saw “an item that they believed could have been an explosive device,” according to a news release from the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office. 

After investigating the residence, and its contents more thoroughly, the decision was made to send the Maine State Police Bomb Squad and and the Maine State Fire Marshall’s Office to assist. 

According to the Waldo County Sheriff’s Office, the Maine Fire Marshal’s Office is handling the investigation. 

Ken Grimes, the Sergeant Investigator in the central division of the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office, said the items found in the home were “chemical” in nature.

Sgt. Grimes stated the chemicals, found in small quantities in the home, were chemicals “not usually found in a house.”

“We’re still working to classify what [the chemicals] are, and what potential uses they have,” he said. 

Grimes expects the results to take “a few weeks,” to process, and in the meantime, the investigation remains ongoing. 

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com