A bomb scare in Enterprise, Feb. 11, turned out to be a joke never intended to go outside of a local garage. Nevertheless, a local man suffered a very red face when his joke bomb accidently travelled to another Enerprise business.

What was first reported as a “small home-made explosive device” was found to be completely harmless when investigated by Enterprise Police.

“It looked pretty fake from the beginning,” said Police Chief Wes Kilgore. “But at the same time, you don’t want to take any chances. You don’t want to be a Woodburn,” he said, referring to the tragic mistake made by a bomb squad who misidentified a real bomb in Woodburn, Ore., last December. The Woodburn bomb killed two police officers and seriously injured a third.

The devicefound in Enterprise resembled a Road Runner cartoon bomb and was discovered on a vehicle by Mike Falk, manager of Les Scwab in Enterprise.

“When I first saw it I though it was just something someone had left in the car,” Falk said. “It had ‘ACME Dynamite’ on it and had a fuse and I immediately thought it was fake but you don’t know anymore. I packed it outside and set it on a rock and called the police.”

Enterprise Police took no chances, and checked the device out fully and traced it back to its creator before declaring it a joke run amok.

Police declined to identify the garage worker or garage in which the joke originated since no harm or threat was ever intended.

“I imagine that poor guy that made it has had enough embarrassment,” Falk said.

Police caution that even “cartoon bomb-making” can have serious repercussions for pranksters.