By KAREN MIKOLS
Hays Daily News
Production slammed to a screeching halt Wednesday afternoon at Adronics/Elrob Manufacturing following a bomb threat.
Vice President and owner Troy Robinson said a bomb threat was called in about 12:20 p.m. Wednesday.
"So we pulled the fire alarms and got everyone out of there," Robinson said.
At 4:45 p.m., Hays Police Chief Jim Braun said the area had been cleared and no bomb had been found.
Bomb-sniffing dogs from the Kansas Highway Patrol were brough it from Topeka and cleared the scene.
"Investigators are following up on potential leads," Braun said, adding there's "nothing solid" to this point.
The 300 employees in the building were sent home after the threat was made, but not allowed to remove cars from the parking lot at 608 E. 13th St., so many called friends or family for a ride.
The Hays Police Department secured a perimeter about 300 feet around the building while waiting for the bomb-sniffing dogs to arrive.
The Ellis County Sheriff's office handled calls in Hays while Hays Police officers remained at the scene's perimeter.
Assistant Police Chief Phil Hartsfield said it's rare for a business to receive a bomb threat, and Robinson said the company hasn't had a bomb threat in the Kansas plant before.
"We had some bomb threats in our New Jersey plant," Robinson said.
A June 19 fire halted plant operations for a few days while about 3 inches of water was cleaned from the plant's floor. The blaze started in a trailer and spread to the loading area.
Reporter Karen Mikols can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 143, or by e-mail at kmikols@dailynews.net.