Bottle of potentially explosive acid found among donated antiques at Detroit bookstore
A well-known Detroit bookstore closed for about an hour on Monday while authorities retrieved old chemicals, including a bottle suspected to contain crystallized picric acid.
The investigation at John K. King Used and Rare Books' downtown location began at about 8:45 a.m., when a bookstore employee went to Detroit's Southwest Public Safety Center on West Fort Street to report a possible hazardous substance on site.
The clerk said she noticed a bottle she suspected contained crystallized picric acid while cleaning over the weekend. Given the chemical's potential instability, she placed it outside over the weekend. The container was part of a collection of antiques that came to the shop, she told authorities.
Following that report, a Detroit Fire Department spokesperson said that firefighters and a hazardous materials crew went to the bookstore. Upon arrival, the fire department requested that the Detroit Police Department bomb squad be dispatched to the scene.
Fire and police crews closed streets around John King to clear a 350-foot radius around the chemical in question, the fire department said. The bookstore said on social media at about 11:15 a.m. that "the store is temporarily closed for the safety of our customers and staff," with a photo showing some of the first responder vehicles on site.
Once the scene was cleared, the bomb squad retrieved that bottle along with another old bottle of unspecified chemicals and cleared the area.
"Great example of teamwork between our citizens, DPD & DFD," the fire department said.
The bookstore reopened at about 12:15 p.m. and the staff said they were resuming normal hours.
Picric acid, according to Britannica, is a chemical compound that has the appearance of a pale, yellow crystalline solid. Its uses include a dye, an antiseptic and a military explosive.
The downtown Detroit location of John King Used and Rare Books on West Lafayette Boulevard calls itself Michigan's largest used and rare bookstore with over 1 million titles in stock on topics such as ancient history, automotive repair and children's vintage books.
