An avalanche bomb that did not detonate earlier this month near the South Klondike Highway is not being considered a threat to public safety.

This is only the second time in 26 years an avalanche control device has misfired.

Ken Geddes, the territory's acting director of transportation maintenance, told the Star this morning that avalanche specialists will not know why the device failed to detonate on Jan. 11 until it has been retrieved.

The device is in a very hazardous area due to high avalanche risk, he explained. When a bomb misfired in 2007, specialists were not able to get it back until spring.

"I imagine we'll have a similar method of retrieval,” he said, noting that this time the slope is much steeper.

Geddes explained that once the device's fuse burns out and it doesn't detonate, there is no chance it will "go off”.

"There really is no problem as far as safety.”

He said avalanche conditions worsened earlier this month because of cold temperatures and high winds in the mountains. It depends on the snowfall and weather from this point on as to whether specialists drop another bomb on the same slope.

Geddes won't specify where the unexploded device is until it has been retrieved.

There have been four avalanches near the highway so far this year, two set off by devices and two which occurred naturally.