Grenade on the I-5 in San Clemente

UPDATE: Grenade detonated, freeway open again.

Want to really screw up the I-5? Leave a grenade on the freeway:

Traffic has been diverted off the northbound lanes of the 5 freeway after a grenade was reported in the middle of the northbound lanes.

The grenade was first reported at about 11:40 a.m. near the Avenida Pico exit.

The California Highway Patrol has requested the help of the Orange County Sheriff Department's bomb squad to investigate the object, said Jim AMormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The grenade was reported on the two right lanes of the northbound side of the freeway. A black utility belt was also spotted.

As a precaution, CHP officers are shutting down both sides of the busy freeway, said CHP officer Eric Barnard. How long the closure remains in effect is unknown, he said.

Southbound traffic is being diverted off the freeway at the Avenida Vista Hermosa exit, Barnard said. Northbound traffic is being diverted out of the freeway at the Avenida de la Estrella exit.

I'm pretty familiar with that area and there aren't a lot of good alternate routes around there. There's going to be an unholy mess in San Clemente.

UPDATE: Who ya gonna call? The Marines:

CHP has also requested Marines from Camp Pendleton to respond to the area, in case that the object turns out to be a military-issued explosive, he said.

Southbound traffic is being diverted off the freeway at the Avenida Vista Hermosa exit, Barnard said. Northbound traffic is being diverted out of the freeway at the Avenida de la Estrella exit.

Traffic on Avenida Vista Hermosa is also being shut down.

I'm hearing on the Orange County Fire Authority radio that the Sheriff's Department has deployed their bomb squad robot and are going to check things out from a closer angle to see what it is they're dealing with. This could take awhile.

I remember the good old days when we just shot at each other. We never ever considered using grenades.