Austin officials: controlled detonation at South Austin home; separate North Austin blast under investigation

Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin Police Department Chief Lisa Davis said Tuesday that police and federal partners carried out a controlled detonation at a South Austin home after finding a large quantity of homemade explosives, and that a separate home explosion in North Austin is being investigated by the Travis County fire marshal.

The detonation at a residence in the 2400 block of Vintage Stave Road followed a call from a concerned citizen and an overnight investigation by APD’s bomb squad, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI chemists and other partners, Chief Lisa Davis said. "It was determined that only the only way to safely detonate some of the explosive material inside of the residence was to detonate it on-site," Davis said.

No injuries were reported in the Vintage Stave Road incident. The house that contained the explosive material sustained major damage and a neighboring house had minor siding damage, Davis said. APD said the detonation occurred at about 5 p.m.

Police arreste…