2nd Hash Oil Fire In 4 Days Burns Planter Box, Part Of A Deck In Antioch
ANTIOCH (CBS SF) -- A flash fire at a residence in Antioch Monday burned a planter box and part of a deck in Contra Costa County's second hash oil fire in four days.
The incident occurred in the 2200 block of Sycamore Drive around 6:10 p.m., according to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.
A separate explosion in the 1500 block of Sunnyvale Avenue in Walnut Creek on Friday critically wounded two men, injured another resident who lives nearby and left the residential building of six units uninhabitable, Walnut Creek police said.
The two men wounded in the Walnut Creek explosion were so severely burned they were taken to the burn center at the University of California at Davis for treatment, according to police.
Robert Marshall, a fire marshal for the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, said the process for making hash oil is easy enough for people to learn through a YouTube video.
"The production process uses butane, and explosions from honey oil production have blown out walls, moved houses off of foundations and caused people severe burns," according to an infogram published by the U.S. Fire Administration.
There is no oversight or restrictions on the sale of butane, which is used to prepare the hash oil, and it can be purchased by the case, Marshall said.
Carroll Wills, a spokesman for state labor organization California Professional Firefighters, said the threat of hash oil fires is analogous to the problem first responders have faced in the past with methamphetamine labs.
Wills said the threat is one of many his organization is watching.
