Bomb squad crews responded to John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit on Monday after staff found old chemical bottles during cleaning, and officials closed roads around the store while the bottles were removed. The bookstore reopened about 30 minutes after its scheduled 11 a.m. opening.
Janelle Spann, who found the chemicals of concern at the West Lafayette shop, said one bottle held picric acid and was labeled from 1901. She said picric acid can be dangerous when it solidifies, a reminder that something that looks like another piece of stock can turn into a public-safety call fast.
The Detroit Fire Department learned about the situation around 8:45 a.m. on Monday, setting in motion the response that kept the area shut down for a short time. By the time the store opened, two old bottles had been taken away and the immediate hazard was gone.
The part that hangs over the day is how long the bottles sat among the store’s antiques before anyone knew what was inside. John K. King said the shop had acquired some of the bottles from a pharmacy several decades ago, and the discovery showed how a place built around old things can still hide a live risk inside them.
King said the team came through it in one piece, and Spann said the store still has “a million books to sell.” That is the real measure of the day in Detroit: a brief emergency, a fast response, and a bookstore that was back open before the morning was over.
