— Dozens of residents were allowed to return home Monday evening after the discovery of dynamite promoted an evacuation.

About two dozen homes were evacuated Monday on Herring Road near U.S. Highway 13 South in Goldsboro after the discovery of two cases of dynamite in a storage building belonging to feed wholesaler Herring Milling Co.

The Wayne County Sheriff's Office said they were dispatched to the warehouse at about 1 p.m. and requested assistance from the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base EOD Unit.

All residents within a quarter-mile radius of the site were evacuated.

Fire personnel said that the dynamite was discovered while a man was cleaning out the warehouse.

"Dynamite over time will start what we call sweating and it gets damp. When it gets damp and sweats and crystals inside can rub against each other and become volatile," said Emergency Services Director Mel Powers.

The dynamite was relocated to a field near the warehouse and detonated in two separate explosions to destroy it at about 5 p.m.