A butane honey oil lab exploded this week in the San Diego neighborhood of Serra Mesa, police said, blowing part of a roof off and sending two people two the hospital.
The blast occurred around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on the 2900 block of Greyling Drive, officials said, and ignited a fire in the home. Firefighters made quick work extinguishing the flames, but extensive damage to the home's front wall was visible afterward. At least one of the windows facing the street was completely blown out.
A butane honey oil lab uses butane, which is easily ignited, to extract THC from marijuana.
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No one has been arrested yet in connection to the explosion, San Diego police Lt. Adam Sharki told NBC 7 on Thursday, but the investigation is still active.
Damage to the single-story home's roof was due in part to the explosion and also to firefighters who cut a hole in the roof to vent the gases and heat building inside.
San Diego News
Homeowner Bill Pierce, who lives in the house, along with four renters, tried, unsuccessfully, to put out the fire with a hose.
"I couldn’t get out the door because the wall was blown out, and I couldn’t get the front door open," Pierce said.
Another resident recalled the shock of the explosion.
"Just to see the walls come in and we tried to get out the front door," Patrick Spinelli said. "The wall was blown in. The house was just all imploded. It’s crazy."
It's not yet known how seriously injured the people were who were hospitalized. A resident said later in the morning that firefighters were also able to rescue a parakeet after the blast.
