[UPDATE Thursday] Hash Lab Explodes on D Street

12557624_1728266904059812_1014210047_oA structure is currently on fire and an individual has been injured in an apparent hash lab explosion on D Street in Eureka, according to reports from the scene. At approximately 9:40 p.m., the scanner erupted with information on an exploding structure fire with a burn victim.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has been asked to respond to the scene “for a drug lab.”

UPDATE 9:57 p.m.: We have a reporter at the scene and should have more information soon.

UPDATE 10:02 p.m.: An ambulance has left with the victim and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. Animal Control has been requested to get three Rhodesian Ridgebacks which belong to the residence.

UPDATE 10:05 p.m.: Chief Ken Woods of Humboldt Bay Fire has confirmed that his agency was investigating the incident as an explosion at a hash lab.

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Photo by Miles Jackson

UPDATE 10:15 p.m.: A neighbor is holding the three dogs belonging to the structure that blew up. “They smell burnt,” reports Bobby Kroeker one of our reporters.

UPDATE 10:18 p.m.: 

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Photo by Oliver Cory

UPDATE 10:24 p.m.: An official gives more information on the situation. Audio collected by Miles Jackson.

UPDATE 10:35 p.m.: Here’s a recap of the audio. Sgt. Justin Braud from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office explains that they were dispatched to a hash lab explosion on D Street.  When the Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene, the fire had already extinguished. He said that he was told that there was a male resident who was taken to the hospital before personnel from the Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene.

UPDATE 10:38 p.m.:

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Sgt. Justin Braud of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office answers reporters’ questions about the situation. [Photo by Oliver Cory]

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The roof of the structure is hanging down and the wall has completely fallen over. [Photo by Oliver Cory]


UPDATE 10:42 p.m.: We have a video an interview with a representative of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department.[Originally we had only audio but we’ve updated with a video]

UPDATE 11 p.m.: To recap: An explosion rocked the neighborhood of D Street about 9:40 this evening. The first emergency personnel on scene located an injured male who was sent to the hospital by ambulance. Deputies are at the hospital now.

Firefighters were able to put out the fire but walls have blown out and the roof is collapsing. Three Rhodesian Ridgebacks were found at the site of the fire and appear to have been in the explosion. They smell burned, according to one reporter at the scene. An animal control officer has been requested to take possession of the canines.

Sgt. Jason Braud of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said his agency was dispatched to the scene of a reported hash fire. They are awaiting confirmation from firefighters that this is the scene of a crime before they enter. However, about 10 trash bags of marijuana have been located as well as living plants.
UPDATE 11:56 p.m.: Bobby Kroeker interviewed a neighbor whose bridge party was abruptly ended when they all had to evacuate.

UPDATE Thursday: press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Wednesday, January 20, 2016, at about 9:30 p.m. Humboldt Bay Fire Company requested Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office respond to the 3800 block of D Street, Eureka, for a possible hash lab explosion. A 24 year old male was in the residence at the time of the explosion and was transported to a local hospital for his injuries prior to the deputies’ arrival. Deputies investigated the residence and located equipment commonly used in hash labs. The Drug Task Force was called and a search warrant was served.

Three dogs were found on scene and Animal Control responded and transported the dogs to the Humboldt County Animal Shelter. The dogs were not injured during the explosion.

The male subject was later flown to a hospital out of the area for further treatment of his injuries which consisted mostly of burns. No other structures were impacted by this explosion.

This incident is currently under investigation. Updated press releases will be issued.

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at 707-268-2539.

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35 Comments
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Aletheia
Guest
Aletheia
8 years ago

This is what happens when weed is illegal /black market. We need to make it recreational legal .prices will drop , hash can be made in regulated facilities. yes lots of people will lose their illegal income, but this kind of criminal activity needs to end now.

David
Guest
David
8 years ago
Reply to  Aletheia

Prices will actually sky rocket. Look at CO and WA. Recreational cannabis is taxed at a higher rate then medical. Most people by there medicine on the black market because it’s so much cheaper. However you are very right this industry needs to change and fast.

saucy
Guest
saucy
8 years ago
Reply to  Aletheia

@Aletheia — David is right, I’ve been following / reading lots about what is happening in colorado and from what I’ve read there rec. club prices are so heavily taxed that a lot of people still buy on the black market since the product is usually around the same quality, but a lot cheaper then it is in the fancy clubs. Not saying the price hasn’t went down in the black market (I honestly have no clue) however if it has it’s still not like the stuff is dirt cheap. I’ve watched a documentary about how much they charge for 8ths and OZs in those colorado clubs, and even if stuff on the black is half that price, theres still plenty of money to be made off of it so people will still do it.

Cherie
Guest
Cherie
8 years ago

I moved here over 5 years ago and can’t wait to move back out. This area is just too drug infested. Just today there was a video added to a local social media site of two guys smoking meth while sitting in the courtyard INSIDE the Bay Shore Mall, now this lab explodes right by my house. What a lovely community.

Fighting for my community, not running
Guest
Fighting for my community, not running
8 years ago
Reply to  Cherie

This is a nationwide problem lady! Its just more obvious with a smaller population vs a city or suburb. Go back where u come from & walk all your streets, crevices, & alleys, you probably never walked & i guarantee you these problems exist there too. What a lovely world we all live in!

hmmmmm
Guest
hmmmmm
8 years ago
Reply to  Cherie

Where do you plan to go that doesnt have these problems?
Do tell. If not hash labs then meth labs, which are thousand times more toxic and dangerous, & now with the release of info about a simple yeast that allows a person to turn poppy flowers into heroin in the comfort of their home, we’ll be seeing those labs too.
Soon the hash labs will be moved deep in the woods like the meth labs where they pour deathly toxic substances right into the forest. Too dangerous for police so they ignore it, along with local enviros of course. No big money in taking those chemicals outta the forest!

Debbi
Guest
Debbi
8 years ago

People will still want to make more money and drugs Making pot legal will not make that go away.

Who
Guest
Who
8 years ago

Great another victim and another home lost for sometime as the power will have to be cut and if the garage was attached it could be red tagged one more home lost most likely so someone can just get high.

I read somewhere....
Guest
I read somewhere....
8 years ago

… that those dogs, or their ancestors, were used to not only kill lions, but to hunt men. Specifically escaped slaves.
The few I’ve seen might as well have been Labs: just sloppy happy and friendly.

3rd Degree Dabs
Guest
3rd Degree Dabs
8 years ago

Poor dogs. Innocent victims.

HaidaAngel
Guest
HaidaAngel
8 years ago

yaaah for the dog rescue…some good outta this mess :/

G-ma
Guest
G-ma
8 years ago

I hope he owns that house,and not some poor owner .again.stupid people!!those poor babies.so glad their ok..hopefully they won’t suffer from inhaling all that hash and smoke.this makes me so fucking mad!!!I used to be a landlord,that’s why I get so mad when the owner has to fix everything.not right.we put clauses in the rental agreement for this.used to be a landlord used to be…..

The true hippy crack
Guest
The true hippy crack
8 years ago

That goop they make is inferior either way. Probably had no intention of vacuuming the butane out therefor selling poison to the community in the end.
What ever happened to just using ice and and old washing machine to make hash? Never had an explosion that way. Now we have 200 cans of tane and burn victims and titanium nails and blow torches. What a mess.

Urban Farmer
Guest
Urban Farmer
8 years ago

Who sold them the butane?
Ban butane sales!

3rd Degree Dabs
Guest
3rd Degree Dabs
8 years ago
Reply to  Urban Farmer

When it gets to the level of the Pseudo Ephedrine problem, maybe something can be done at that point. Limit sells to 1 can per person and make bulk BHO something you must register to get.

Fighting for my community, not running
Guest
Fighting for my community, not running
8 years ago
Reply to  Urban Farmer

Call walmart & amazon then. Thats where they get it the cheapest. Good luck

Urban Farmer
Guest
Urban Farmer
8 years ago

Once it’s illegal to sell in CA they won’t be allowed to ship it here. That’ll atleast give ’em another hoop to jump thru.

sharpen your pencil
Guest
sharpen your pencil
8 years ago
Reply to  Urban Farmer

Yeah because making things illegal and sending everyone to jail or prison has worked so well for us in America….we waste more and more tax dollars every year on this type of backwards logic. Good thinking though Reagan Era!

Watson
Guest
Watson
8 years ago

Is it better to release butane into the ozone? Greed will end our wonderful planet one careless act at a time. If a short sentence is what is needed, so be it.

69 roadrunner man
Guest
8 years ago

Wanted rocket scientists

Really
Guest
Really
8 years ago

There are sellers that advertise on the radio every day .Trim scene solutions sells it buy the pallet

Watson
Guest
Watson
8 years ago
Reply to  Really

Does that make it alright? No!
It just makes it seem alright. “Every bodies doin it…..well if everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?”
No.

saucy
Guest
saucy
8 years ago

Why are people still doing butane extractions? Don’t they know there are other methods that don’t involve using butane hence absolutely zero chance of explosion??? (Rosin)

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
Ernie Branscomb
8 years ago

I assume this dude is not responsible enough to own the house, so I wonder, does insurance cover this?

Drew
Guest
8 years ago

We have a lot of hash oil names at http://marijuananames.org , but I am hesitant to sell them to just anyone because of these dangers. In Colorado, all private hash oil production is illegal- folks were blowin’ up themselves (and innocent neighbors). Leave it to the Pro’s for this… too much danger, as well as the risk of contaminants within the hash oil product.

holy yaya
Guest
holy yaya
8 years ago

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80122265/

Article about hash labs and legislation in CO for reference.
Note that they say small hash labs are slowly outnumbering small meth labs (they actually go after meth labs in CO) Yet the article states that the university of CO burn unit does NOT record burns associated with meth labs but ARE starting to keep records of hash lab burns.
If you want to learn about how public policy is influenced by media&sometimes major institutions leaving certain info out, watch this topic. By not recording meth lab burns the media will likely report only on hash lab burns thus creating the idea that there are no problems with meth labs as its not being recorded or reported on. See?

Uti
Guest
Uti
8 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

According to the DEA domestic meth production has been going down in the past 10 years since the US began regulating the chemicals used in production. But with that Drug War prohibitive measure, like so many other prohibitionist actions before, came unintended consequences.

The meth market has been taken over by the Mexican cartels who can produce it much cheaper, purer product, and in a steady supply, so now it’s estimated the cartels control 90% of the US market. For the cartels it’s a much better business than pot, easier to produce clandestinely, easier to smuggle and it nets higher profits, not to mention it’s truly addictive so the customer base is guaranteed.

In 2008 DEA undercover agents in Southern California were paying $8,000 to $10,000 a pound and last year the price dropped to less than $3,500 a pound. That corresponds to a 33% increase in seizures of Mexican meth.

That’s why you haven’t seen reports of local meth labs either being busted or exploding. They’re a thing of the past, relegated to straw man arguments uninformed commenters make when pot grows get busted—“why don’t the cops go after the more dangerous meth labs and stop wasting time and money busting pot growers”. The cops can’t bust what’s not there.

What you do hear more about is growers who are trading weed for meth. Makes sense; the weed is higher quality here and presents less risk smuggling to other states once it’s north the border zone.

THC
Guest
THC
8 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Because the Mexicans can supply it for less then the cost to make it, unless you by the makings in bulk out side of the state.

69 roadrunner man
Guest
8 years ago

So true there are no real meth labs up here it’s all trucked in from south border were there’s a will there’s a way uti said it best

Capt Kirk
Guest
Capt Kirk
8 years ago

That’s deff the game today. Trade the pounds for meth. Been going on here for a long while. Meths worth more in humco than ganja but for this importing and exporting its a win win. Beyond the curtain weed can still fetch a high dollar (higher than crank). Whe u can trade three pounds for one its a better deal. Plus there seems to be a big demand here for crank. Not so much for weed other than the export game

69 roadrunner man
Guest
8 years ago

I’m a trekki so true capt kirk also another real fact of the game ,but you think tweekers would eventually front themselves. I mean you can tell one a mile away it shouldn’t take a well educated police official that can figure out were it all comes from infiltrate blend in b e come one in that Val Kilmer movie Vincent D’Onofrio he had no nose from too much snorting to much crank , but it doesn’t matter to the powers that be doesn’t feel there’s probable cause to do anything about the super crank no public officials will do anything about it so there’s devil’s playground for prime example were will it get better I dont have the answers al I can do is point out the problem s I’ve seen I’m a native son of humbold lived here for 48 yrs and it makes me said for the 70s wish it was like that time again

THC
Guest
THC
8 years ago

It might have a lot to do with the fact that cops are part of the game, they play both sides. Help move it across the border then bust people for using. There’s documented proof that our government uses private contractors and our own armed forces to protect drug manufacturing and distribution in several countries, from the mountain of Mexico to the opium fields of Afghanistan. Geraldo Rivera interviewed some of our troops guarding opium fields. That’s another reason they go after pot so hard,they don’t control it, its easy money, they get paid to do it and most dope growers are nonviolent.