The busy commercial section of East Manoa Road was shut down from about 7:30 to 10:20 a.m. yesterday after a city disposal worker left a World War II-era mortar round on the lawn of the Manoa Fire Station.

The 706th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team based at Schofield Barracks scooped up the object, transported it to the Schofield demolition range and destroyed it there, said Sgt. 1st Class Brian Field, a noncommissioned officer for U.S. Army Pacific. "It was quite old, World War II era," Field said.

While initially believed to have contained some explosive material, the size of the detonation at Schofield indicated there was not, Field said. The object was identified as a U.S. Army 81-millimeter mortar round, he said.

Fire Capt. Clyde Shimabukuro said it was rusty, about a foot long, and looked like a "small blimp with fins on it."

When the object was first taken to the fire station, police not only shut down East Manoa Road but evacuated the fire station, the Bank of the Orient across the street and a nearby business complex that includes a Starbucks, police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said.

After officers from the Hono-lulu Police Department's Specialized Services Division identified the object as belonging to the military, the Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal Branch arrived and took it away.

City spokesman Mark Matsunaga said the object was picked up in front of a property on Dole Street during a routine bulky item pickup. Yu said police later went to the location to look for additional explosives but found none.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.