BART closure. Photo Josh Schoolfiled
North Berkeley BART station was briefly closed on Aug. 20, 2015. Photo: Josh Schoolfield
North Berkeley BART station was briefly closed on Aug. 20, 2015. Photo: Josh Schoolfield

The North Berkeley BART station was closed briefly Thursday evening after someone reported seeing what appeared to be a live grenade in the station’s satellite parking lot on Franklin Street.

According to BART Police, a responding officer checked the device and determined it appeared to be a live explosive.

With the assistance of the Berkeley Police local residents were evacuated from the immediate neighborhood at around 6:50 p.m., and a safety perimeter was established.

The station was closed as a precaution, and the UC Berkeley police bomb squad was called in. Members of the bomb squad inspected the device and determined it was a toy grenade.

The station was reopened at around 7:15 p.m. and residents were allowed to return to their homes.

Train service was minimally impacted as a result of the incident.

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Tracey Taylor is co-founder of Berkeleyside and co-founder and editorial director of Cityside, the nonprofit parent to Berkeleyside and The Oaklandside. Before launching Berkeleyside, Tracey wrote for...