Cancer treatment: $50K, Radiation detector: $10K

Being detained on suspicion of carrying a nuclear weapon? Priceless.

Calif. Man Sets Off Nuclear Alert Detector


ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) - A man who recently had received radiation treatment for a medical condition set off a nuclear alert detector on a fire engine, prompting police to close down a roadway in Escondido while authorities searched for a nuclear weapon.

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District engine crew's radiation monitor sounded Tuesday when the man and his friend walked past the crew on their way to fill a gas can.

The Nuke Alert monitor sounded again as the men walked back to their vehicle.

Firefighters notified the San Diego County Sheriff's Department after they drove by the men's vehicle and the monitor sounded a third time.

Sheriff's deputies pulled over the driver and detained him and his passenger for about one hour while they confirmed that the man was not carrying a nuclear weapon and that he had received radiation treatment, according to Sgt. Robert Healey.

The man was described as a Valley Center resident in his late 40s or early 50s. His name and medical condition were not released.

The radiation monitor was purchased with Homeland Defense Department grant money and is used 24 hours a day on each fire truck in the Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District, according to Capt. Dale Mosby.