A handful of customers at Harold's Family Restaurant in Valleyview walked away with a free meal Wednesday after someone threatened to blow the restaurant up.
Deanna Collins, one of the restaurant staff, said someone called at 2:05 p.m. and reported there was a bomb inside set to explode in 15 minutes.
"We thought it was a prank, but then we thought again and you get a little anxious and we thought maybe we should get out," she said.
The staff called the RCMP. Police quickly arrived and evacuated the building, as well as people in a neighbouring motel and sealed off the frontage road that runs alongside the Trans-Canada Highway. About 90 minutes later, a police dog trained to sniff out explosives cleared the scene.
Collins said no one who works in the restaurant has any idea why someone would call in a bomb threat.
She said all the patrons who were in the restaurant at the time left and were not required to pay for their meal. She wonders if any will return later to pay their bills.
"In all the years I have worked here, I have never seen anyone leave without paying," she said.
Police are attempting to trace the call. said Cpl. Kelly Butler. Anyone with information about who is responsible is asked to call the RCMP at 250-828-3000.
