Grant County Courthouse evacuated

EPHRATA — The discovery of two canisters hanging on the doors of the Grant County Superior Court Clerk’s Office led to a partial evacuation of the building Thursday.

EPHRATA - The discovery of two canisters hanging on the doors of the Grant County Superior Court Clerk's Office led to a partial evacuation of the building Thursday.

Employees returning from lunch discovered the canisters with batteries placed on top of them and contacted police.

Grant County Sheriff's Office and the Ephrata Police Department responded, and discovered they were refills for an air freshener. The air freshener canisters are replaced monthly. Discovering the office closed, the vendor left them on the door handles.

"Once the local law enforcement were able to approach, they didn't see any wires. They didn't see anything that would lead them to believe these were explosives," said Kyle Foreman, Grant County Emergency Management's communications coordinator.

People in the prosecutor's office, the superior court offices, the maintenance department and the sheriff's office were affected by the evacuation which started at 1 p.m., Foreman said . The jail, the courthouse annex and the courthouse were not affected.

"The board of commissioners applauds the clerk's office and superior court employees for recognizing a possible threat and evacuating everyone to their outside safe zones," Commissioner Cindy Carter stated.

People were allowed back in the building after about 45 minutes.