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Builder Marks Homes That May Have Bombs On Property

Posted: 3:17 pm EDT October 15, 2007Updated: 3:55 pm EDT October 15, 2007

A local builder marked dozens of Orange County houses Monday that may have bombs on the property. Lennar Homes will dig up the yards of the marked houses in the Vista Lakes subdivision, off Lee Vista Road, near Odyssey Middle School.

The Warwick area of Vista Lakes has quite a few spots spray-painted by geophysicists who spent the day marking people's yards. They used a GPS tracking device and identified where munitions from the old Pinecastle Jeep Bombing Range might be buried.

It's a thought that doesn't sit so well with Eddie Tantoco, who moved from California three months ago.

"I want to make sure everything is cool. I don't want to be sleeping there one day and things happen," he said.

Homeowners became aware of the potential problem back in July, when the Army Corps of Engineers found a live WWII-era bomb in an empty field behind nearby Odyssey Middle School. Some had no idea the new homes were built so close the bombing range.

"The bottom line is, you paid a few bucks for this house and, at the same time, if that's the situation, then we have a problem," Tantoco said.

Recently, Lennar Homes sent homeowners letters and hosted community meetings letting folks know that they'll have to evacuate the area from 9:00am through 3:00pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. If a bomb is found and too dangerous to move, it will have to be detonated on site.

Eyewitness News tried getting a statement from the homebuilder, but a Lennar representative did not return the phone calls.

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