California city evacuation lifted after military ordnance found

(Reuters) - An evacuation order was lifted in a California city on Thursday after a piece of potentially explosive "military ordnance" reported in its business district was rendered safe, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said. A sheriff's department bomb squad and a disposal unit from Vandenberg Air Force Base investigated the unidentified device, which was reported at around 3:30 p.m. local time in Solvang, a town of about 5,000 residents some 130 miles outside Los Angeles. The American Red Cross set up a location to assist displaced people, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said. Shortly after midnight on Thursday, the bomb units removed the military ordnance and "rendered it safe." The evacuation was lifted and residents were allowed to return to their homes, the sheriff's office said.