Eric Licas
The Orange County Register
(MCT)
An illegal marijuana extract business hidden in a commercial building in Anaheim caught fire and left several people hospitalized Sunday, Feb. 20, including two firefighters who were injured in an explosion while battling the blaze.
Firefighters responded to 1169 N. Knollwood Circle and found a one-story, multi-unit structure engulfed in flames, Anaheim Fire & Rescue spokesman Stephen Peña said.
One firefighter had minor burns to his face, Peña said. The other hurt his back when he was knocked back several feet by the blast and fell onto his oxygen tank. They were hospitalized and were expected to recover.
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Firefighters rescued one person in the building who was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
A second person was found uninjured at the scene of the fire, and was later arrested on suspicion of producing a controlled substance and crimes related to the fire, Peña said. The 37-year-old man told authorities he had been in the unit that caught fire, and that a concentrated extract of marijuana known as honey oil was being produced inside. Flammable chemicals like butane are often used to make the substance.
The fire spread to other parts of the structure, Peña said. Two people in an adjacent unit that was damaged took themselves to a nearby hospital with unspecified injuries.
Vio Ticora told a videographer for LoudLabs News he was across the street when the fire apparently started. He described a “tornado” or flames and smoke that consumed the building.
“We were talking inside my brother’s business, and we heard explosions,” Ticora said. “One was smaller, then we heard a louder one, and a louder one.”
Crews were still battling flames chewing through the building when the explosion took place, Peña said.
Smoke rose from the charred and gutted interior of the building after firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze, as seen in photos shared by Anaheim Fire & Rescue. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
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