Item resembling pipe bomb found in dorm as Cranberry Portage school prepares for evacuees' return

A device that looked like a pipe bomb — but didn't contain any explosive material — was found Monday in a Cranberry Portage high school dorm room as staff prepared for the return of students to the evacuated community, Manitoba RCMP say.

Around 9:20 a.m. Monday, Cranberry Portage RCMP received a report of a suspicious device found within a dorm room at the high school in the northern Manitoba community, which is about 40 kilometres southeast of Flin Flon, RCMP said in a news release.

Staff members were preparing for the return of students, after the community was evacuated May 31 due to wildfires in the region, when they made the discovery.

The device was described as a metal pipe with tape that resembled a pipe bomb, RCMP said.

The RCMP explosives disposal unit examined the device, and it was taken to a remote location where it was safely destroyed, police said.

RCMP have since confirmed the device did not contain any explosive materials, and they continue to investigate.

Frontier School Division chief superintendent Tyson​ MacGillivray​ said RCMP "were immediate in their response" after the suspicious device was reported.

"They were able to get explosive experts on campus within hours, take control of the situation, and basically destroy the device, and provide an update that there was no explosive materials found in the device," he told CBC.

He added there were no students on campus when the device was discovered due to the wildfire evacuation.

The device was discovered "tucked away" in a small area on the campus by a member of the school's cleaning staff, as they were preparing the building on Monday for the return of students, according to MacGillivray​. 

Students who attend the school were scheduled to begin returning to the community this week. MacGillivray said they will likely return to classes sometime next week, with a graduation ceremony expected to take place on Monday of next week.