Sonora, CA…Early Saturday morning on 05/07/2016, at around 2:09 AM, The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the 21000 block of Montgomery Rd in Sonora. It was reported that a 48 year old man had burns all over his body from an explosion. Tuolumne County Sheriff Deputies arrived on scene and discovered a Butane Honey Oil lab at the residence. The patient was flown from Sonora to UC Davis for a higher level of care. The scene was turned over to The Tuolumne Narcotics Team Detectives for a complete investigation.

State Bill 212 went into effect January 1, 2016. It recognized BHO labs, along with methamphetamine labs, as aggravated felonies due to the danger they pose to the public. Both types of labs are extremely dangerous and can result in large explosions. Methamphetamine and BHO labs are investigated/charged by law enforcement under the same statute of the California Health and Safety Code.

In the Butane Honey Oil lab process, Marijuana is packed into a container. The container is, more often than not, a cylindrical shape container and capped off at both ends. One end allows for butane to be gravity fed into the container. The butane chemically washes out concentrated THC (honey oil, hash oil, wax,…) from the marijuana out of the opposite end of the container.

Butane used is a highly flammable, colorless, and easily liquefied gas. Butane is commonly used as lighter fuel for cigarette lighters.

Something as little as static electricity could could spark the explosion. Last year alone, Butane Honey Oil explosions killed 32 people and injured many more in California.