A live land mine was safely removed from the 3100 block of West St Louis Street Monday afternoon around 3 PM.

The land mine was included in a purchase of military memorabilia from an auction. While looking through the objects Monday, the person who made the purchase noticed the land mine, and called the South Dakota National Guard.

Rapid City Police and Fire Departments were on the scene just before one o'clock and evacuated 12 homes, an apartment building, and a few businesses. Shortly after, personnel from Ellsworth Air Force Base arrived to remove the land mine. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team treated the land mine as if it were live during the process and ultimately detonated it in a separate location once they determined that it was, in fact, live.

"We work with the partners at Rapid City Police and Rapid City Fire to make sure that we provide as much resource as we possibly can to ensure that the community is safe," says Lt. Dan Rosenfield, public affairs at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

Once it was removed, the evacuations were lifted and people returned to their homes. Lt. Jim Bussell says that if you have any old war memorabilia that may contain an explosive, you're encouraged to contact the fire or police department.