April 17 (Reuters) - Residents in 500 to 700 homes and businesses in a California town were told to evacuate on Wednesday after a piece of potentially explosive "military ordinance" was reported in its business district, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said.
A sheriff's department bomb squad and a disposal unit from Vandenberg Air Force Base were investigating 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.
There were no reports of injury. It was unclear whether any threat remained. The American Red Cross set up a location to assist displaced people, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office said.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Larry King)
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