On Wednesday, March 21 around 10 a.m., downtown Globe was evacuated because of hazardous material found at three locations in and around the downtown area.

It all began early that morning when a cleaning crew was emptying a building near CVS on Broad Street.

Gila County Historical Society President Vernon Perry happened to walk by and noticed some bottles that looked familiar to him.

“They were cleaning out the downstairs of the Masonic building and I noticed some bottles that I thought looked cool,” Perry said.

Upon closer inspection, he saw the bottles contained Picric acid, so he brought it to the attention of the Globe Fire Department.

Picric acid is an organic compound once primarily used as an explosive, but that has also been used in medicine as an antiseptic and burn treatment, as well as in dyes. It is also used as a chemical reagent in metallurgy.

When the compound ages, it dehydrates and crystallizes, becoming more volatile than TNT.

“I know that the potential hazard for an explosion from crystallized Picric acid is great,” Perry said. “My sister taught chemistry in Ajo and found a crystallized Picric acid in her stockroom. The bomb squad removed it and detonated it the desert.”

The reaction to the situation was swift. All the buildings in an eight-bock area of downtown Globe between Sycamore and Mesquite streets, on Hill, Broad and Pine streets, was evacuated and locked down from the time of the discovery to 5:20 p.m.

Local law enforcement set up a perimeter and the Arizona Department of Public Safety HAZMAT team brought an explosive containment vessel to gather and dispose of the chemicals. But Perry recalled seeing similar bottles at the Gila County Historical Museum, so as the scene played out downtown, he went to that building to see if his hunch was correct.

Until 1967 the museum building was a rescue station for the mines, according to Perry, so Picric acid was used there to treat injured miners.

“I went to the museum and, sure enough, found a few bottles there,” he said. “They hadn’t crystallized, so they were still stable. The fire department came and removed them with no problem.”

There were also bottles in one more building at the location of the Old Dominion Cutting Company, a barbershop on Mesquite Street owned by John Flores, also known as Johnyd.

Flores is moving from his funky upstairs loft to a more prominent location on Broad Street and the bottles were part of a decorative display of artifacts and other interesting mementos in his shop.

“The sheriff’s department called me because they knew I had some antique bottles,” he said. “They asked if they could come up and look, and, sure enough, found they contained Picric.”

The bottles we from the 1930s-’60s, according to Flores, and labeled as a prescription for external use for burns and rash. The compound had not crystallized yet, so they were quickly removed. Flores said that as things played out, the situation “deescalated,” and DPS removed them in a “frag bag” rather than bringing in a robot as was originally planned.

“I drove around with those bottles in the back of my truck for months,” he said. “I handled the bottles and dropped them several times. It was marked as a prescription, so I didn’t think too much about it. It made me second-guess myself for awhile.”

At a little after 4 p.m., personnel from the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team of DPS retrieved and safely disposed of a total of 10 bottles, the most volatile removed via “total containment vessel,” a heavily fortified orb operated by explosives professionals wearing heavy armor.

As it turns out, DPS gets several calls each year to remove Picric acid from various types of buildings, from schools to hospitals.

“People will inherit mementos from the family and leave them in storage for years, not knowing what they have on their hands,” Sgt. John Allen, of the DPS Hazardous Materials Response Unit, said. “We get called to schools where chemistry departments have small amounts that have been in storage for years. In this situation, it was lucky that somebody noticed.”

The material was taken to a place known as the Pipeline and detonated in the desert, according to the City of Globe Economic Development Director and acting Public Information Officer for the incident, Linda Oddonetto.

The following agencies and organizations supported the Globe Fire Department in the incident: Tri-City Fire District; Globe Police Department; Arizona Department of Public Safety; Gila County Sheriffs Office; Globe Public Works; Gila County Emergency Management; City of Globe administrative staff; Southwest Gas; APS; Arizona Eastern Railroad