West Hills

Drug Lab Sparked West Hills Home Explosion: Police

Investigators found the self-contained system used to manufacture butane honey oil (BHO) in the rubble the morning after the explosion

Walls of a West Hills home were reduced to rubble over the weekend in an explosion investigators now say was the result of a butane honey oil lab.

The home went up in flames and glass flew as windows shattered Saturday night in the 6500 block of N. Ellenview Avenue, Los Angeles police and fire officials said.

Police found marijuana growing in the garage that night, but couldn't search for evidence butane honey oil, also known as wax or hash oil, until daylight because the house was crumbling on itself, detectives said.

Investigators found the self-contained system used to manufacture butane honey oil (BHO) in the rubble Sunday morning, said LAPD Detective Keith Honore, of interagency narcotics task force L.A. Impact.

When making BHO, marijuana is extracted and boiled down using butane, which is odorless and highly flammable.

"I was upstairs laying on the bed, all of the sudden I felt this ka-boom," said neighbor John Clemans, who lives yards from the home that caught fire. "I thought it was a preshock to a big earthquake."

Two people with burns were detained after being found several blocks away Saturday night, police said.

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