Edhat Staff
Photos: Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Sheriff’s Detectives Investigate Hash Oil Lab Following Explosion at Lompoc Residence
At approximately 2:45 a.m. this morning, December 13, 2018, Sheriff’s deputies, Santa Barbara County Fire and Lompoc City Fire personnel responded to the 3900 block of Marion Ct. for a reported explosion and fire. Upon their arrival, Sheriff’s deputies noticed the residence shed was on fire and a 57-year-old male subject had been seriously burned. Fortunately, his spouse managed to escape without injury.
The investigation revealed that the fire and explosion were the result of a potential drug lab. Detectives with the Special Investigations Team, along with a County Arson Investigator, responded to conduct an investigation. It was quickly learned the injured subject was, or had been, extracting hash oil in a makeshift clandestine lab, inside a detached shed, which is a highly flammable and dangerous process. While doing this, an error occurred, which resulted in a large explosion that was felt throughout Vandenberg Village and resulted in the shed exploding, as well as damage to the residential structure, and a neighboring structure as well. Damage consisted of obvious structural damage from the blast and from the fire.
This afternoon, a search warrant was executed and detectives located a large amount of processed marijuana, hash oil and other forms of concentrated cannabis.
Due to the on-going investigation, the injured subject’s identity is not being released at this time. He is hospitalized and his condition is unknown.
The Sheriff’s Office wants to take this opportunity to remind community members that not only is the process of extracting oils from cannabis illegal it is also extremely dangerous. In this case, it put not only the people living inside the home at risk, but also the surrounding neighborhood and nearby elementary school.
We encourage community members to report any activities potentially involving marijuana cultivation or extraction in a residential area. Please provide tips by calling the Sheriff’s Anonymous Tip-Line at 805-681-4171 or by going to our website at https://www.sbsheriff.org/
A shed exploded causing injuries to two nearby residents in Vandenberg Village early Thursday morning.
One male resident, age unknown, in the nearby home was taken to Lompoc Valley Medical Center with critical injuries. He was then stabilized and transported to Grossman Burn Center. Two other occupants in the nearby home were uninjured. A neighbor reportedly had difficulty breathing and was transported to Lompoc Valley Medical Center for care, reports Eliason.
An investigator is on scene working to determine the cause of this explosion.
Apparently, according to KSBY’s report, I WAS CORRECT.
Second explosion in Lompoc in a short amount of time. I’ve only heard of homes exploding for a couple reasons, one is a gas leak, and the other is when you’re cooking drugs. I can’t imagine that there’s a natural gas out to the shed… Kind of scary when you don’t know what your neighbors are up to but it endangers you anyway!
Meth labs and/or cannabis oil? The smell of home cooking in Lompoc.
I hope we get a report when the investigation is complete. I agree, it could have been cooking drugs, making meth is extremely volatile.
I’m going with marijuana oil- With all the growers in the area, they “throw away” the “shake” or leaves and stems… Pot heads take the shake and process it with butane, in a very volatile method, and extract the THC oils… There is a high chance of explosion when using butane…
Someone in this cul de sac runs a painting business out of his home. It has been reported to the county since there’s lots of coming and going and parking of business vehicles, etc. Looking at the pic, looks like a lot of paint containers in the yard. Everyone in the area heard the explosion.
‘The Sheriff’s Office wants to take this opportunity to remind community members that not only is the process of extracting oils from cannabis illegal it is also extremely dangerous.’
I do not believe this is a true statement. You can have 1/2 a pound of pot or 8 grams of concentrate. You can turn pot into concentrate with a heated press for sale online w/o the fire hazard. How is that illegal if you stay within legal possession limits ?
Yes, you can concentrate pot without using volatile chemicals. No, you can’t do anything with pot “for sale online,” or offline without the proper permits and testing.
You can buy the heated press online …
It is common to see pot for sale on craigslist.
You can’t sell pot online w/o permits but you can give it away.
You can then ask for a donation to cover expenses.
County governments love to regulate to show “they care”. Yet, they refuse to enforce. Stop voting for these people and get elected officials who do far more than just posturing.