Criminal probe launched into LA hash-oil warehouse explosion
Officials have launched a criminal probe into a Los Angeles hash-oil warehouse explosion that rocked several buildings and injured 12 firefighters, according to reports.
The cause of Saturday’s huge blast at Smoke Tokes in the city’s Little Tokyo section has not been determined, but investigators said carbon dioxide and butane canisters were found inside the building, the Los Angeles Times reports.
“We are in the early stages of an investigation,” LAPD Assistant Chief Horace Frank said. “We are looking at every aspect at this stage … The explosion was massive and those firefighters are very lucky to be alive.”
The explosion at the one-story commercial building occurred in a business district known for smoke shops, with authorities referring to the area as Bong Row.
Multiple storefronts were damaged and firefighters had to run “straight through that ball of flame” as they escaped the building, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said.
A total 11 firefighters were treated for burns at a hospital, while another firefighter was released from an emergency room after suffering a “minor extremity injury” during the incident. As of early Sunday, eight remained hospitalized, including two in critical but stable condition, the newspaper reports.
All of the firefighters are expected to survive, fire officials said.
Some firefighters used power saws to access the building from its roof while others went inside to find out where the fire was coming from, Scott said.
“It was routine until they heard a rumbling, high-pitched sound — they described it like a jet engine spinning up — along with pressurized smoke,” he said.
The ensuing explosion created a blast 30 feet wide, Scott said.
“This is one of the worst incidents in recent history that we have been to,” Scott continued. “Our firefighters were driven off the roof, frantically scurrying down the aerial ladder to safety through a blowtorch.”
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were expected to arrive in Los Angeles on Monday to help in the investigation. The owner of the business, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment, the Times reports.
The business — which supplies THC-containing compounds extracted from cannabis using butane — did not have placards outside the warehouse warning firefighters about the combustible gas inside, sources told NBC News.