San Diego (KGTV)- Neighbors are in disbelief after an illegal hash oil lab explodes inside of a Mira Mesa home. Three men suffered severe burns. The DEA says the explosion could have been much worse.
"I was in my home I heard a big explosion, but it felt like an earthquake," a neighbor tells 10News.
The home on Sunny Meadow St. went up in flames on Sunday night. The inside of the house is destroyed. In the driveway sits the frame of the burned car.
Three men in their 20's were taken to UCSD Medical Center. One of them had at least 90% of his body burned.
In the home's backyard, there were dozens of tanks and can of butane. It's used to extract concentrated THC from marijuana. The DEA says the men were actively processing when the lab, located mostly in the garage, went up in flames.
"This was a very extensive operation that they were doing, and it could have been a lot worse," says Karen Flowers, Special Agent in Charge with the DEA. "There are always ways that, that butane can escape, just the slightest spark can cause that explosion."
Flowers says the men could have made a profit of over $70,000 for the product in each process. The DEA says, as of right now, it is still too early to know what charges the men could face.
