http://turnto10.com/i-team/i-team-explosive-fires-in-ri-linked-to-home-drug-labs
I-Team: Explosive fires in RI linked to home drug labs
By KATIE DAVIS, NBC 10 NEWS Thursday, December 3rd 2015
HASH OIL EXPLOSION_KEYE.jpg
A new form of an old drug is leading to fires, explosions and deaths across the country, including in Southern New England. (KEYE)
sd091714_fig1.jpg
sd091714_fig2.JPG
sd091714_fig4.JPG
Image Gallery
4 photos
WESTERLY, R.I. — A new form of an old drug is leading to fires, explosions and deaths across the country, including in Southern New England.
It has names like honey oil, earwax, shatter, dabs or BHO, for butane hash oil. They're all highly concentrated extracts of marijuana, often made with volatile chemicals, and making the drugs at home is exploding in popularity.
Home cooks often attempt to make their own extracts with marijuana and few other supplies such as glass dishes, pipes and butane, which is extremely flammable and readily available at hardware stores.
With one spark, the odorless, colorless and invisible butane vapors can explode into a ball of fire.
That's what investigators believe happened in Rhode Island on Nov. 27, when neighbors inside a Westerly condo complex were shaken from their beds by a powerful blast. Everyone made it out alive.
"It looks like a bomb hit it, really. It doesn't look like a normal fire," said neighbor Robert Fleming.
Melted siding and blown-out windows outside showed the force of the explosion inside. DEA agents who specialize in drug cook sites known as clandestine labs quickly arrived. Wearing protective suits and masks, they removed charred marijuana plants and several cases of butane from the condo.
"There's only one reason the DEA is there," Fleming said as he watched investigators enter the building.
It's not the first time federal investigators have been called to a suspected marijuana extraction lab in Rhode Island.
In South Kingstown on July 31, an early morning fire and explosion severely burned two men inside a suburban home. Neighbors rushed to help.
"They were in pretty bad shape," said Matt Furman, a neighbor who tried to put out the fire.
The NBC 10 I-Team learned that one of the men burned in the fire recently died from his injuries. The other remains in the hospital six months after the blast with life-threatening burns.
In March, a five-alarm mill fire in Providence caused a building collapse. No one was inside, but the flames were seen for miles. Investigators said the remains of another suspected lab were found in the rubble.
A DEA spokesman said local agents have responded to at least 30 similar fires across six New England states in the last 18 months.
The NBC 10 I-Team sat down with Rhode Island's State Fire Marshal, who's charged with investigating several of the fires.
"I don't think anybody in the fire service saw this coming," said Fire Marshal John Chartier.
Chartier said most home cooks don't realize just how flammable butane is.
"It creates a flash fire, which burns very, very hot, very, very quickly," Chartier said. "The burns can be extremely severe."
Fire investigators are also concerned by home cooks who post and share videos on social media. The clips make the process of extracting THC from marijuana look deceptively simple. Some videos seem to make light of the life-threatening fires and explosions that can result when things go wrong.
"What we're getting here is a completely legal product, that's being used in a completely unsafe manor," Chartier said. "The consequences can be drastic."
Home labs present a unique challenge for law enforcement because medical marijuana is legal in Rhode Island. At least 15,000 people are licensed as patients or caregivers.
Neighbors at the fire scene in Westerly told NBC 10 that a man who ran from the burning condo told them he had a medical marijuana card.
Joee Lindbeck, who is the Director of Policy and Legislation, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin recently had legislation introduced that was aimed at restricting marijuana extraction to professional labs. Such labs would be inside licensed marijuana dispensaries, and would be regulated and inspected by the state. Several state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries already sell other forms of the drug to patients and caregivers in the state.
"The AG is trying to be proactive by one, saying, if you're using this dangerous substance, you cannot make it in this way," Lindbeck said.
The bill introduced in the Senate, S0924, is based on steps lawmakers took after dozens of fires and explosions at home labs in Colorado.
"We know that since legalization has happened [in Colorado], they've seen a significant increase, a 167 percent increase, in butane hash oil explosions," Lindbeck said.
The legislation, which would update Rhode Island's current medical marijuana statue, was held for further study back in June. A spokesperson said the attorney general remains hopeful the bill will move forward in the 2016 session.
I-Team: Explosive fires in RI linked to home drug labs
By KATIE DAVIS, NBC 10 NEWS Thursday, December 3rd 2015
HASH OIL EXPLOSION_KEYE.jpg
A new form of an old drug is leading to fires, explosions and deaths across the country, including in Southern New England. (KEYE)
sd091714_fig1.jpg
sd091714_fig2.JPG
sd091714_fig4.JPG
Image Gallery
4 photos
WESTERLY, R.I. — A new form of an old drug is leading to fires, explosions and deaths across the country, including in Southern New England.
It has names like honey oil, earwax, shatter, dabs or BHO, for butane hash oil. They're all highly concentrated extracts of marijuana, often made with volatile chemicals, and making the drugs at home is exploding in popularity.
Home cooks often attempt to make their own extracts with marijuana and few other supplies such as glass dishes, pipes and butane, which is extremely flammable and readily available at hardware stores.
With one spark, the odorless, colorless and invisible butane vapors can explode into a ball of fire.
That's what investigators believe happened in Rhode Island on Nov. 27, when neighbors inside a Westerly condo complex were shaken from their beds by a powerful blast. Everyone made it out alive.
"It looks like a bomb hit it, really. It doesn't look like a normal fire," said neighbor Robert Fleming.
Melted siding and blown-out windows outside showed the force of the explosion inside. DEA agents who specialize in drug cook sites known as clandestine labs quickly arrived. Wearing protective suits and masks, they removed charred marijuana plants and several cases of butane from the condo.
"There's only one reason the DEA is there," Fleming said as he watched investigators enter the building.
It's not the first time federal investigators have been called to a suspected marijuana extraction lab in Rhode Island.
In South Kingstown on July 31, an early morning fire and explosion severely burned two men inside a suburban home. Neighbors rushed to help.
"They were in pretty bad shape," said Matt Furman, a neighbor who tried to put out the fire.
The NBC 10 I-Team learned that one of the men burned in the fire recently died from his injuries. The other remains in the hospital six months after the blast with life-threatening burns.
In March, a five-alarm mill fire in Providence caused a building collapse. No one was inside, but the flames were seen for miles. Investigators said the remains of another suspected lab were found in the rubble.
A DEA spokesman said local agents have responded to at least 30 similar fires across six New England states in the last 18 months.
The NBC 10 I-Team sat down with Rhode Island's State Fire Marshal, who's charged with investigating several of the fires.
"I don't think anybody in the fire service saw this coming," said Fire Marshal John Chartier.
Chartier said most home cooks don't realize just how flammable butane is.
"It creates a flash fire, which burns very, very hot, very, very quickly," Chartier said. "The burns can be extremely severe."
Fire investigators are also concerned by home cooks who post and share videos on social media. The clips make the process of extracting THC from marijuana look deceptively simple. Some videos seem to make light of the life-threatening fires and explosions that can result when things go wrong.
"What we're getting here is a completely legal product, that's being used in a completely unsafe manor," Chartier said. "The consequences can be drastic."
Home labs present a unique challenge for law enforcement because medical marijuana is legal in Rhode Island. At least 15,000 people are licensed as patients or caregivers.
Neighbors at the fire scene in Westerly told NBC 10 that a man who ran from the burning condo told them he had a medical marijuana card.
Joee Lindbeck, who is the Director of Policy and Legislation, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin recently had legislation introduced that was aimed at restricting marijuana extraction to professional labs. Such labs would be inside licensed marijuana dispensaries, and would be regulated and inspected by the state. Several state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries already sell other forms of the drug to patients and caregivers in the state.
"The AG is trying to be proactive by one, saying, if you're using this dangerous substance, you cannot make it in this way," Lindbeck said.
The bill introduced in the Senate, S0924, is based on steps lawmakers took after dozens of fires and explosions at home labs in Colorado.
"We know that since legalization has happened [in Colorado], they've seen a significant increase, a 167 percent increase, in butane hash oil explosions," Lindbeck said.
The legislation, which would update Rhode Island's current medical marijuana statue, was held for further study back in June. A spokesperson said the attorney general remains hopeful the bill will move forward in the 2016 session.
ec 15 2015 04:40AM MST
