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Residents evacuated, potentially explosive device found at York mobile home park, officials say

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A potentially explosive device was recovered from a residence in a York County mobile home park overnight, officials said.

The device was found following a search and evacuation at the Bethel Mobile Home Park Monday night and Tuesday morning, according to York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Dennis Ivey.

The search, in the 3500 block of Hampton Highway in Yorktown, was executed about midnight as part of an arrest from a Prince William County Fire Marshal’s case, Ivey said.

Residents were asked to evacuate their homes while crews with the Newport News Fire Department bomb squad searched the area for threats to safety, he said.

Firefighters determined there were no immediate threats and allowed residents back into their homes by about 1 a.m., he said.

York County investigators and crews with the Prince William Fire Marshal’s Office then went in and located an incendiary device, which has the potential to cause a fire or an explosion, Ivey said.

Crews cleared the area about 3 a.m., he said.

The search followed an arrest made in Prince William County last week after investigators there found similar devices, according to Prince William Battalion Chief and Deputy Fire Marshal Thomas W. Jarman.

Crews there were called March 26 to investigate a possible meth lab in an apartment, Jarman said.

Michael Alan Blischak, who lives in the apartment, was arrested and charged with four felony counts of manufacturing and possessing explosive materials or devices, Jarman said.

Investigators learned that Blischak also owned the York County residence, prompting the search there, he said.

Additional charges are pending, according to Jarman.

Check back at dailypress.com for updates.