UPDATED as of 12:20 p.m.
A hashish oil-making operation - not a methamphetamine lab – likely sparked a fire Friday inside a Lakewood home that left one man burned.
Lakewood police investigators found bags containing several pounds of marijuana and the makings of a hashish oil operation, including tubing and butane, inside the home after the blaze was doused.
Hashish oil is a potent form of THC. A drop or two of the liquid on a cigarette gives the same effect as a single marijuana joint, the DEA reports.
“We suspect that he was involved in a process to extract hashish oil from marijuana,” Lakewood police Lt. Chris Lawler said today. “We believe something happened to ignite the butane.”
Flames first broke out inside the house in the 10100 block of 98th Street Southwest on Friday. A 32-year-old man suffered burns over more than 25 percent of his body. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment and was listed in stable condition.
A second fire started erupted at the home about 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Investigators initially suspected it was arson but they now believe it was a flare up from the first blaze, Lawler said.
Lawler said detectives have launched a criminal investigation into what led up to the fire. They have not yet talked to the 32-year-old man about what he was doing and how he intended to use the hashish oil.
Lawler said hashish oil-manufacturing operations are a rarity.
“Nobody around here has seen it in a long time,” he said.
WOW! Now thats one smart guy…..flammable butane…is there such a thing as non-flammable butane? Funny how these drug addicts think they turn into scientists overnight. I feel bad for his parents since he was still living off Mommy & Daddy….and I feel sorry for us tax payers who are paying for his air-lift to Harborview of which the ride alone costs well over $6,000, not including in flight medical team! Thats only the beginning of the costs that “we” will endure and this is only one small little factory run by a mad man……..
More of these labs can be expected to show up with the dispeseries that are marketing edible pot. Hash oil is a much easier,and more potent, food additive. With all the new green cafes there is high, pun intended, demand for this product.
Ah yes, weed, the “safe” drug.
Golly. Well, now that he burned down his workplace, however will he pay his medical bills?