Bho Disasters (PLEASE READ!)

[jump /injack]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/22/2960722/pot-oil-extraction-leads-to-catastrophic.html

As Washingtonians embrace the state’s new law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, police and fire agencies are bracing for a new problem: catastrophic fires sparked by people trying to extract oil from their weed.

Authorities say there have been at least two such fires in Pierce County this year, and they expect more as increasing numbers of people get their hands on marijuana.

“I’m very nervous about them,” said Jason Brooks, a Tacoma police detective who specializes in arson cases.

Brooks and Tacoma deputy fire marshal Sue Boczar say back-room methods of extracting hash oil endanger the people who make it, their neighbors, and firefighters and police sent to respond when a fire breaks out.

And they’re not the only ones.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal in New Jersey issued a safety alert in January warning authorities in that state of “a marked increase” in calls for service related to “improvised hash oil preparation.”

“Since this process involves the use of flammable and potentially explosive materials, especially butane, the hazard of fire and/or explosion is great,” according to the safety alert. “This is compounded by the fact that extraction is usually done indoors to avoid detection.”

Such were the circumstances of two fires this year in Pierce County, one of which injured two people and led to criminal charges.

A Tacoma house burned in January after propane someone was using to extract oil from marijuana caught fire, Boczar said. Two people were hurt in Lakewood in February when an explosion rocked their apartment. Police said they found a marijuana grow inside the apartment and evidence that two people were extracting oil from the cannabis.

Those people were hurt and later charged with unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance and reckless burning. They pleaded not guilty earlier this month and await trial.

Boczar said she’s heard of other cases in Pierce County.

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/...tion-leads-to-catastrophic.html#storylink=cpy

"It seems like a relatively recent trend of people who have figured out how to turn a benign plant into an explosive."

Burns of a 2nd and 3rd Degree type associated with Butane type explosions below:

http://www.google.com/search?q=2nd+...7Aqa_2QXS04CoDQ&ved=0CCcQsAQ&biw=1345&bih=841

Gray Wolf's safety tips below.

http://skunkpharmresearch.com/butane-safety/

 

[Thomas Paine]

Montclair police: Suspicious blaze also child-endangerment case
By Beatriz Valenzuela, Press-Telegram and Wes Woods, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

MONTCLAIR, Calif.
Police said they were investigating a fire at a house containing a marijuana butane laboratory as a child endangerment case after two children were found inside but unharmed.

The reason for the investigation, according to a Montclair Police Department news release issued Sunday, was the inherent danger of a drug lab in the residence.

Three people were taken to a hospital for burns from the early Saturday morning fire, authorities said.

The Montclair Fire Department extinguished the blaze. Arson investigators found evidence of a butane marijuana lab for making “honey oil,” according to the release.

“It was a drug lab,” a Montclair police sergeant who did not want to give his full name said Saturday. “And it’s under investigation. The house has been red tagged and it was totally engulfed in fire. It’s not safe to go into.”

Fire Capt. David Pohl said authorities received several calls around 5:45 a.m. Saturday reporting that a home at 9091 Ramona Ave. was on fire. They also reported explosions, Pohl said.

“As fire crews arrived, they noticed three cars in front of the garage were fully involved and fire was coming out of the roof of the garage,” Pohl said.

The flames had begun to move into the residential portion of the home and caused some damage to the kitchen and living room area.

Firefighters from the Montclair, Upland and Los Angeles County fire departments were able to stop the fire from progressing further, Pohl said.

Damage was estimated at more than $100,000.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Montclair Police Department at 909-621-4771. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can contact the WeTip hotline at 800-78-CRIME.

http://www.dailybulletin.com/genera...suspicious-blaze-also-child-endangerment-case

 

[Thomas Paine]

Busty week for BHO disasters

Busty week for BHO disasters

Busy week for BHO stories. More kids involved...

Clearlake Couple Arrested During Napa DUI Sweep

Posted by Keri Brenner (Editor) , December 19, 2013 at 10:36 AM

CLEARLAKE, Calif.
A couple from Clearlake were arrested over the weekend on suspicion of manufacturing drugs after a traffic stop at a Napa Police DUI checkpoint.

Elizabeth Cortez, 32, and Ruben Cortez Jr., 28, were taken into custody at about 8:30 p.m. Friday at 2475 Jefferson St., Napa, on the suspected charges, which also included willful cruelty to a child.

According to police, Elizabeth Cortez drove her vehicle with three children under 11 years old and her husband, Ruben Cortez, into the DUI checkpoint at Jefferson Street at George Street.

An officer noticed the vehicle had a strong odor of marijuana coming from it.

The officer searched the vehicle and located over 27 grams of suspected concentrated marijuana ("honey oil"), a honey oil conversion lab, 54 morphine pills and over 200 grams of marijuana, police said.

Evidence of drug sales was also located in the vehicle, police allege.

The couple were arrested and booked into Napa County Department of Corrections.

Children’s Protective Services took custody of the children

http://napavalley.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/clearlake-couple-arrested-during-napa-dui-sweep

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

you are reaching now, that last story isnt a disaster, just a shame. this thread is for disaster stories, not drug busts.

 

[jump /injack]

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/...ration_blast_butane_honey_oil_discovered.html
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/...ration_blast_butane_honey_oil_discovered.html
Big Isle marijuana 'hash oil' lab explodes, severely burning chemist

By Leila Fujimori

POSTED: 03:20 p.m. HST, Dec 30, 2013
LAST UPDATED: 08:51 p.m. HST, Dec 30, 2013

The recent explosion at a butane honey oil lab on Hawaii island serves as evidence that a growing and dangerous practice on the mainland has reached Hawaii shores, police say.
"It's been happening all over the United States, said Hawaii County police Lt. Mark Farias, who recently attended a mainland conference where he learned about the dangers of the extraction of butane honey oil, a byproduct of marijuana that is smoked and "vaped" in e-cigarettes.
"We've been seeing more and more of the finished product and components to extract it," he said.
Unlike a meth lab, however, no actual cooking takes place in a butane honey oil lab.
During the extraction process, canned butane is dispensed into a container of marijuana. The butane acts as a solvent, stripping the plant of its potent oils. That liquid is placed in a water bath and the butane is boiled off, resulting in a concentrated product also known as hash oil or dabs.
On Saturday night, a powerful blast at a lab in Puna blew off cabinet doors, melted metal pipes, knocked out windows and seriously injured a 30-year-old Keaau man, Hawaii County police said. *
The man was taken by private vehicle to a fire station, transported by ambulance to Hilo Medical Center with third-degree burns, and later transferred to an Oahu hospital.
"If your neighbors are doing this, it could affect your kids; it could affect you," Farias said of the violent blast. Although no other homes were damaged, the fire blistered the paint on the door's exterior.
Police recovered 102 marijuana plants from an indoor growing operation, more than an ounce of butane honey oil, three e-cigarettes, and components used to manufacture the oil.
The oil derivative can contain up to 100 percent THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, Farias said. It has a honey-like consistency but is slightly less viscous.
Honolulu police recently confiscated a parcel containing e-cigarettes and a liquid substance that tested positive for THC, but no arrests have been made, said Teresa Bell, a spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department.
Farias noted that while marijuana users often smoke the buds of the plant, the usually discarded trimmings can be used to derive the potent oil.
In February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's U.S. Fire Administration alerted the emergency services sector that explosions from these home labs during a process using butane to extract and concentrate compounds from marijuana are increasing across the country.
These explosions are sometimes misidentified as pipe bombs or meth labs because of the extraction vessel used, the FEMA article said.
The initial explosions can lead to secondary explosions and fires, FEMA reported.*
"Butane is highly explosive, colorless, odorless and heavier than air and therefore can travel along the floor until it encounters an ignition source," it said.
Butane honey oil has been around for a while and smoked, but is now being "vaped" in e-cigarettes, without the smelly smoke of a joint.
Rolling Stone magazine reported June 20 that butane honey oil costs between $25 and $100 a gram, depending on where you live.
A Dec. 4, 2003, Cannabis Culture Marijuana Magazine article said: "It's the concentrated liquid essence of marijuana, and it doesn't take much of it to completely stone you, though it's mind numbing power makes it an acquired taste."
The oil can be spread on a paper and rolled into a joint, inhaled through a straw from a hot knife, steamed in a vaporizer or dropped onto ashes in a bong, the magazine said.

http://www.google.com/search?q=hash...OL9DeoASFhIHoCA&ved=0CDoQsAQ&biw=1555&bih=861

Pictures are worth a thousand words sometimes. Here is some pictures of the aftermath of miscalculation and stupidity, a compilation of disaster; click on the pictures for the stories that go along with them.

 

[jump /injack]

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/East-Village-fire-explosion-238550371.html

An explosion in East Village gave residents a scare on Thursday night as a two-alarm fire caused a building evacuation at 900 F St.
Fire officials say the explosion was caused by a hash oil extraction using butane in a third floor apartment. A man has severe burns to his hands and arms.
It looked like firefighters had everything under control but then the building started showing heavy smoke and it became a two-alarm fire.
People who live in the building say they felt an explosion and then heard the fire alarms. Some didn't take it seriously because they've had false alarms here but when they stepped out their apartments they knew this was serious.
Firefighters say the fire extended into the into the walls and up to the fourth floor. About five units have been affected and there's no word when people will be let back into their apartments.

 

[jump /injack]

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022586188_kirklandfirexml.html


Two Kirkland men trying to make hash oil from marijuana caused an explosion Wednesday night that severely damaged two apartments, according to Kirkland police.
Police said Thursday that Robby W. Meiser, 45, and his roommate, Bruce W. Mark, 62, were using butane to convert marijuana to hash oil in their second-floor apartment at 7216 N.E. 142nd St. when the explosion occurred around 9 p.m.
Meiser and Mark suffered minor to moderate burns on their upper bodies and were transported to Harborview Medical Center, police said.
The blast ignited a fire that one of the occupants put out with a fire extinguisher. The explosion caused an estimated $100,000 in damage to their apartment and one below it, police said, and both were condemned by the city’s fire inspector.
The most popular way of making hash oil — a high-potency extract — now involves flammable solvents, particularly butane, which can be bought in hardware stores.
Usually a glass or steel canister is stuffed with dried pot. The canister is then flooded with a solvent such as butane, which strips away the psychotropic plant oils.
The resulting golden-brown goo is then purged of the solvent. Common methods include boiling it off in a hot-water bath.
The danger comes mainly in improper ventilation. Butane is heavier than air and tends to sink and puddle in a closed room. Sparks can cause fires and explosions.
“That is exactly what happened,” said Lt. Mike Murray of the Kirkland Police Department.
Hash-oil explosions have been reported in recent months in Chicago, San Francisco, Colorado and more locally, in Mount Vernon.
Murray said Meiser is a designated provider of medical marijuana for several patients and had about 40 plants growing in his apartment.
Because some medical patients prefer to use concentrated-marijuana extracts in oils, tinctures and food, Murray said the manufacturing of hash oil for such purposes appears to be allowed.
But because the extraction was done in a residential area without proper ventilation, Murray said a charge of reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, could be sought.
He said the case is still under investigation and will be turned over to the city attorney for potential prosecution.
Under the state’s new, regulated recreational-pot system created by Initiative 502, such an incident couldn’t occur, according to state officials.
No recreational businesses have been licensed yet. But when they are, no licensed business can be in residences.
Also, state rules don’t allow crude equipment and set certain safety standards for extraction, including closed-loop systems that keep flammable gases from escaping.
“I fervently hope that once I-502 marijuana-processing licenses are issued and processing is able to be legally done in commercial areas that we will see an end to people trying to do this kind of thing in private homes, which is very dangerous not only to them, but to neighbors,” said Kirkland City Councilmember Toby Nixon

 

[AlterEgo860]

had this happen to a kid I kno.. he blew up his house.. and almost killed his 2 dogs him and his gf.. suffered from 3rd degree burns over the upper part of his body. becareful dudes.. and do this away from anyone.. be alone lol.. and smart.

 

[jump /injack]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/02/fire-san-diego-ninth-avenue-f-street/


HASH-OIL EXTRACTION CAUSES FIRE

SAN DIEGO — Butane fumes from a hash-oil extraction lab exploded into a two-alarm fire and burned one man at an East Village apartment building Thursday night, officials said.
More than 40 firefighters responded to the four-story, 117-unit building at Ninth Avenue and F Street after the blast about 8:45 p.m. San Diego police evacuated residents.
Damage was estimated at more than $1.2 million, a fire official said.
The butane explosion occurred in the kitchen of a third-floor unit, where the man was injured, said Lee Swanson, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. The man, whose name was not released, was hospitalized with burns, primarily to his hands, Swanson said.
Flames in the kitchen were doused by a sprinkler system, but firefighters found more fire in the wall and roof, prompting the second alarm, Swanson said.
Two adjacent units and a fourth-floor unit were damaged. Two units on the second floor had water damage, he said. Total damage was estimated at $950,000 to the building and $300,000 to its contents.
The regional Narcotics Task Force was called to investigate the lab, said Amy Roderick, spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. She said there were dozens of empty, 8- to 16-ounce butane canisters in the apartment.
Based on the size of the explosion, fumes must have been building up in the apartment all day during processes to extract high-potency hash oil from marijuana, Roderick said.
The Red Cross assisted residents in the damaged apartments.

[The fireball from a butane explosion in over 3000 degree's F, you will not walk away unharmed. All of these explosions and fires with one exception were in doors, all participants went to the hospital with major burns, closed loop in a commercial area is the only way, be safe out there.]

 

[Dick Turpin]

I still can not believe that people make oil indoors....

 

[jump /injack]

https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/143683267bf8d1e9


Anthony Pura
More: Bio, E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, News Team
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A small explosion sent a man to the hospital with serious burns. Authorities say he was trying to make a type of drug at a home in Central Fresno. Two children and a woman were inside the home at the time. The blast happened around 6 p.m. on Crystal near Griffith.

Fresno firefighters say the man is in the burn center with life-threatening burns. They believe that the man may have been making honey oil hash, which they say is a very dangerous and volatile process.

"Our estimate approximately 80 percent of his body between 2nd and 3rd degree burns," Fresno Fire Batallion Chief Rich Cabral said.

Firefighters said it looks like the fiery accident may have been a result of the man attempting to make honey oil, derived from marijuana.

"Honey oil is used as a smoking product that's very similar to hashish," Cabral said.

Authorities say making honey oil involves extracting a chemical from marijuana with the use of butane gas.

"The very process is highly dangerous and in this case, as others we've seen, explosions happen inside the home where other people have been injured," Cabral said.

Firefighters say a woman and two children were inside the house in different room when the explosion occurred. All were uninjured.

Sabrina Valenzuela lives a few homes down the street-she says she heard a loud noise earlier in the evening while she was watching television inside her house.

"I heard a big bang and the door was shaking like it was an earthquake but we didn't think anything of it-with the train tracks being so close," neighbor Sabrina Valenzuela said.

After hearing what happened just a few doors down from her home Valenzuela said she doesn't know what to think



"It's just too close to home. It doesn't matter where you live, you gotta be careful about your neighbors," Valenzuela said.

Firefighters said they are trying to determine if the people lived in the home or were squatting. Police are trying to contact the owner of the property.

[Another idiot, making it in the house with children next door, looks like he'll die of the burns, get it outside and preferably in a closed loop apparatus away from people.]

 

[supermanlives]

boom there goes another oil head. people burn down their houses deepfrying turkeys too. stay smart stay safe.

 

[jump /injack]

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2014/01/powerful-blast-rocks-mount-baker-apartment-building/


January 7, 2014 at 2:17 PM
Powerful Mount Baker explosion blamed on hash oil
Posted by Jennifer Sullivan


Police tape surrounds a building that was damaged in a blast this afternoon. Marcus Yam / The Seattle Times

Thee blast that knocked a building six inches off its foundation today in the Mount Baker neighborhood is one of several recent explosions or fires suspected to be caused by the manufacture of a marijuana-based product.

Seattle police and firefighters are on scene of the blast, which occurred inside a vacant apartment at 2802 S. McClellan St. No one was hurt and the building has been evacuated.

Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore blamed the blast on hash oil.

The most popular way of making hash oil — a high-potency extract of marijuana — now involves the use of flammable solvents, particularly butane, which can be purchased in hardware stores.

A substance, believed to be butane, was being stored in containers in a freezer in the building. The butane apparently leaked from the freezer into the refrigerator below and into the appliance’s electrical system. When the refrigerator kicked on today an explosion occurred, Moore said.


“The butane gas leaked into the bottom of the refrigerator. When the refrigerator kicked on it was enough to ignite the butane gas and it caused an explosion,” Moore said.

Police found “a substantial marijuana grow” inside the apartment, said police spokeswoman Renee Witt.

Seattle police are searching for the man who was last living in the apartment. The man hasn’t been seen since November and owed back rent, said Witt. The man is wanted for investigation of reckless endangerment and for his role in the marijuana growing operation, Witt said. She added that the making of hash oil is a crime because it is so volatile.

Last week, two Kirkland men trying to make hash oil from marijuana caused an explosion that severely damaged two apartments.

A fire that injured seven people and destroyed 10 apartment units in Bellevue in November is believed have been caused by someone making hash oil. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

The force of today’s Mount Baker blast blew out windows, sliding glass doors and cabinets and shifted the building off its foundation, according to the Seattle Fire Department. A flower shop in the front of the building was evacuated after the explosion, according to the fire department.

A structural engineer and a member of Seattle Police Department’s Arson and Bomb Squad will investigate as well. Puget Sound Energy has shut off the gas to the building and Seattle City Light has shut off power to the building.

 

[northstate]

Its a damn shame that this is all people are going to associate with concentrates at this rate of prolific headlines from all over the place. (Only to increase sadly)

 

[Crooked8]

Storing butane in the freezer.....................but why? WHY!??

 

[fcjohnny]

Storing butane in the freezer.....................but why? WHY!??

Sounds like dewaxing gone wrong....

 

[jump /injack]

SEATTLE — An explosion that rocked a vacant apartment building in south Seattle Tuesday was caused by butane tanks in a refrigerator that were being used to strip hash oil from marijuana plants, police and fire officials said.

Arson investigators said the butane tanks in the refrigerator were the cause of the explosion. Police said they found a large number of marijuana plants in the apartment, too.

The explosion occurred inside a one-story apartment building around 1 p.m. in the 2800 block of South McClellan Street. Firefighters were called to the scene of a “loud blast,” but no fire or smoke could be seen from the building. No injuries were reported, but the force of the blast blew out the building’s windows, a sliding glass door and cabinets.

It also knocked the building about 6 inches off of its foundation, police said.

The Seattle Fire Department issued a statement that said, in part, “Investigators from the Seattle Police Department’s Arson Bomb Squad determined the explosion was caused by butane tanks being stored in the freezer. Because it is heavier than air, the butane gas leaked to the bottom of the refrigerator. When the appliance started up, an electrical spark ignited the butane gas causing an explosion.”

The Seattle Police Department said later, “Officers and SFD found marijuana in one of the bedrooms and a substantial marijuana grow farm was located in the basement. Narcotics Detectives responded. The owner of the property was not forthcoming with who had control of the property. ABS will handle the follow-up on the reckless endangerment charge. The investigation continues.”

[Apparently these were not cans of butane but cylinders or tanks.]



Read more: http://q13fox.com/2014/01/07/police-loud-blast-rocked-vacant-building-off-foundation/#ixzz2poZwP062

"It seems like a relatively recent trend of people who have figured out how to turn a benign plant into an explosive."

Burns of a 2nd and 3rd Degree type associated with Butane type explosions below:

http://www.google.com/search?q=2nd+...7Aqa_2QXS04CoDQ&ved=0CCcQsAQ&biw=1345&bih=841

Gray Wolf's safety tips below.

http://skunkpharmresearch.com/butane-safety/

 

[Thomas Paine]

Storing butane in the freezer.....................bu t why? WHY!??

Part of the winterization process.

More like they were storing processed BHO in 99% Iso and keeping everything below freezing.

And loosing ones children to child protective services could be considered a disaster to most parents.

 

[Thomas Paine]

Man dies after being hospitalized in butane honey oil blast By Star-Advertiser staf

Man dies after being hospitalized in butane honey oil blast By Star-Advertiser staf

Man dies after being hospitalized in butane honey oil blast

Honolulu, Hawaii
By Star-Advertiser staff

POSTED: 05:28 p.m. HST, Jan 03, 2014

Hawaii County police said the man who had been hospitalized after an explosion involving the production of marijuana-derived oil has died.

Rasi Summers, 30, of Kea'au was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. Thursday at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, where he was taken after suffering severe burns.

He had been listed in critical condition with second-degree burns, police said.

The explosion on Dec. 28 on 17th Avenue in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna knocked out windows, blew out doors of cabinets and melted plumbing fixtures, police said.

Police said at the scene, there was evidence of a laboratory used to manufacture a marijuana byproduct called butane honey oil.

Police said butane honey oil laboratories are becoming more prevalent on Hawaii island, as they are across the country.

A 28-year-old Puna woman was arrested and later released, pending further investigation.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/...g_hospitalized_in_butane_honey_oil_blast.html

 

[jump /injack]

https://www.vocativ.com/01-2014/hash-oils-trail-seared-skin-annihilated-homes/


Hash Oil’s Trail of Seared Skin and Annihilated Homes

One man's body was literally smoking as he staggered down a residential street after an explosion in his illicit home lab
The New Year started with a bang—and burned flesh—for two Seattle-area potheads.
Roommates Robby Meiser and Bruce Mark were using butane to turn a stash of marijuana into hash oil when the gas ignited in their Kirkland, Washington, apartment. The subsequent explosion destroyed two homes and left both men hospitalized with scorched upper bodies.
The pair are actually among the lucky ones. In the week since the Jan. 1 blast, mishaps while making the heady goo have left a Hawaii man dead, a dude in Fresno, Calif., with second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of his body, and an apartment complex in San Diego with $1.2 million in damage.
NOW READ THIS



SAN DIEGO, CA. One of at least 6 rooms that were heavily damaged by an explosion in the Heritage Inn Express motel in San Diego. In an adjacent room to this one, two persons were critically burned in a makeshift drug lab. (MCT/Don Bartletti)
Hash oil’s potent trail of seared skin and annihilated homes shows no signs of slowing down in 2014, giving the mayhem long associated with meth labs a run for its money. Dozens of dope-smoking enthusiasts are paying a steep price trying to sap a better high from weed. And the carnage underscores an unintended consequence that’s accompanied the loosening of marijuana laws for medical and recreational use.
NOW READ THIS

“We’ve been very fortunate that nobody has been killed,” said Jeff Satur, a police commander in Longmont, Colorado. The town, about 15 miles north of Boulder, dealt with its first hash oil explosion in 2012 when a man tried to smoke a cigarette while using butane to extract THC from pot. He nearly blew himself to smithereens.


Hash oil explosions will cause severe burns. (Longmont Police Department)
Last month, Longmont police responded to reports of a man whose body was literally smoking as he staggered down a residential street, Satur said. It turned out that the victim, Benjamin Callahan, and a buddy had detonated a nearby garage that they converted into an illicit lab. Callahan was trying to bolt from the smoldering scene when cops found him. After two days in a burn unit, he fled the state to avoid arson and reckless endangerment charges. There’s now a warrant for his arrest.
NOW WATCH THIS

Others have been far less fortunate. Two 23-year-olds in Livermore, California, faced murder charges in 2012 after a man inside their apartment blew himself up while cooking hash oil. Evan Aviles and Lexie Hutson, who were also severely burned in the accident, later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and to being an accessory, respectively. Aviles is serving a three-year stretch in state prison. Hutson would not return multiple requests for comment.


The walls and ceiling in a kitchen are charred in an explosion caused by a combination of marijuana and butane in a PVC pipe. (Shelly Thorene)
“We took this case extremely seriously,” said Teresa Drenick, a prosecutor for the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office. “Not only did they put their lives in danger, but of those living in adjacent homes.”
In nearly all cases, the explosion victims used butane, a flammable solvent, to extract hash oil from marijuana. Typically, people fill a canister with pot and use butane to strip away the psychotropic plant oils. They then cook off the solvent by boiling the oil in a hot-water bath. Unfortunately, many folks produce the oil indoors where poor ventilation can cause explosions. The problem has become so persistent that the U.S. Fire Administration—a division of FEMA—published a brief memo on hash oil explosions last year.
NOW READ THIS, TOO!


Despite the dangers, cooking hash oil continues to surge in popularity. Dozes of DIY and how-to videos dot the Internet. States like Oregon, Washington and Colorado, which allow medical or recreational marijuana use, either permit or do not explicitly prohibit users from converting pot into the sticky substance. Perhaps most importantly, hash oil gets you fucking stoned. Containing 15 to 30 percent THC, a few drops can get you as ripped as a joint.


Various types of hash oil that have been formed into a type of wax and powder for convenience are displayed at Sonoma Patient Group in Santa Rosa, California. (ZumaPress.com/Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
“Basically, it’s a whole lot stronger than normal weed,” said one Oregon man who lost his best friend, his fingers, half his flesh and the use of his right hand in a hash oil explosion. “I’m not scientist, but that’s why I did it.”
The man (who spoke candidly with Vocativ on the condition that his name be withheld) had extracted oil from pot plants several times prior to the blast that rocked his neighborhood outside of Portland, Oregon, last May.
One minute, he was in his garage and clutching a butane torch while the friend assisted him with the cook. The next, a powerful explosion triggered by a furnace pilot light hurled him through the garage door. Covered from head to toe in flames, the man began rolling around in his front yard. Then he realized his friend was still inside the garage.
READ THIS AS WELL!


“And the whole entire thing was a fireball,” he said. Still, he ran back into the garage and dragged his friend out of the burning rubble. The friend died in a hospital 18 days later.
As for the man, he spent six weeks in a medically induced coma while doctors performed a dozen operations on his charred body. He then spent another six weeks at the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon.
Today, grafted skin covers his entire body from the waist up, he said. He lost his sweat glands and the use of his right hand. He and his girlfriend lost everything in their home from the explosion. His medical bills are $1.3 million.
The man said he has zero interest in ever making hash oil again.
“I hate to call myself a fucking idiot, but I guess I learned the hard way,” he said.