SAN BERNARDINO — An ice chest-size box found this morning in the parking garage of the Carousel Mall in San Bernardino contained industrial radioactive material, authorities said.

The parking structure was empty and no injuries were reported, San Bernardino City Fire Department Capt. Martin Estacio said. Police cordoned off the parking structure while firefighters called a Riverside company to retrieve its equipment.

The plastic yellow box contained a radioactive check source device, Estacio said. The devices are used for checking water wells, pipes and metal. Symbols on the outside of the box indicated it contained radioactive material.

Estacio said the device contained Cesium 137, a common industrial radiological source.

“When it’s outside the container, it’s very strong and could be very dangerous,” he said. “There’s enough radiation that within about five minutes you could suffer some irreversible damage to your internal organs. You would have to be very close to it, within a couple of feet.”

He said the Cesium appeared to be properly packaged in metal inside the plastic container, so the risk to anyone coming within about 10 feet for a short time “is the equivalent of a few dental x-rays.”

San Bernardino Police Sgt. Mike Potts said parking control officers came across the container when they checked the parking structure a little after 6 a.m.

—Darrell R. Santschi
dsantschi@PE.com

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