ENON — The Dayton Bomb Squad detonated a suspicious package near the Speedway corporate headquarters around 11 a.m. Thursday morning as hundreds of employees were forced to wait two to four hours outside.

A section of Interstate 70 eastbound was shut down for about half an hour as a result.

The package, which was found in the parking lot of the business at 500 Speedway Drive around 7 a.m., was described as square-shaped, but couldn’t be identified, according to Mad River Twp. and Enon fire Chief David Leist. A Clark County Sheriff’s Office report said the package appeared to be a square box covered in tape.

According to Speedway spokesperson Shane Pochard, employees there called authorities and followed an emergency plan to keep everyone safe.

“We worked with (authorities) to take care of it,” Pochard said.

Leist said his crews responded to the scene between 7 and 7:15 a.m. this morning and decided it was best to call the bomb squad.

“They were unaware of anyone in that area or anything that could’ve been left in the area,” Leist said. “We decided if the device was unattended and we couldn’t identify anything, it was best to go ahead and further investigate it.”

The buildings of both Speedway, which employs approximately 700 people, and Seepex, which employs approximately 100, were locked down to help the bomb squad investigate. The buildings were locked down between 8 and 11 a.m.

The entrance on Speedway Drive was also shut down, forcing hundreds of employees to park at nearby businesses, including the Muncy Corporation building and Enon Park.

Speedway officials and local authorities couldn’t estimate the number of employees in the building at the time it was locked down. Those employees remained in the building during the lockdown.

Seepex, 511 Speedway Drive, had about 50 percent of its employees in its building this morning, including a few night-shift employees who couldn’t leave the premises, according to Daniel Lakovic, Seepex’s assistant to the president.

The Dayton Bomb Squad used a robot to examine the package and decided to detonate it, according to the sheriff’s report.

Around 10 a.m., crews shut down I-70 eastbound from I-675 to Route 4, as well as Enon Road and the exit ramps to Route 4. At 10:25, the bomb squad successfully detonated the package, emitting a small puff of smoke.

Employees began entering the building around 11 a.m.

The Dayton Bomb Squad, Enon fire and police departments, the Clark County Sheriff’s office, the Hustead Fire Department and the Ohio State Highway Patrol responded to the scene.

“I thought everybody did an excellent job,” Leist said. “Safety is the first line of what we have to provide for the public, and I think we did that today.”

Further investigation of the package will be handled by the state fire marshal’s office. Evidence obtained from the scene was collected and sent to the state fire marshal’s forensic lab.