A man suffered burns over 40% of his body in a fire at a Long Beach warehouse police suspect was being used to extract hash oil using highly flammable butane on Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The fire broke out about 1:45 p.m. in a warehouse in the 3300 block of East 59th Street, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.
Firefighters encountered a man who was estimated to be in his 30s suffering from serious burns, the department said via social media. He was taken to a trauma center. He was listed in critical condition, Long Beach Police Department officials said.
After calling for a second-alarm response and extinguishing the flames, firefighters discovered “drug processing equipment and chemicals,” officials said.
A hazardous materials team was summoned to the scene to deal with the chemicals.
Detectives were waiting on building inspectors to check the structural stability of the warehouse before going in, Long Beach police spokeswoman Shaunna Dandoy said.
It preliminarily appeared that the warehouse was being used to extract hash oil from marijuana using butane, she said.
Other than the badly injured man, no other suspects were detained at the scene, Dandoy said.
🔥2nd Alarm🔥 #CommercialFire @ 3300 block of E. 59th St. #Firefighters arrived at 1:45PM @lbfirefighters extinguished the #fire also discovering drug equipment & chemicals. #HazMat onscene mitigating hazards. 1 male patient in his 30’s transported with 40% burns to trauma center pic.twitter.com/6TovPpQliA
— Long Beach Fire (@lbfirefighters) May 26, 2019
1:45PM 2nd Alarm @ 3300 block of E. 59th. LBFD units have extinguished fire and discovered drug processing equipment & chemicals. Haz-Mat unit on scene mitigating any hazards. 1 male patient in his 30’s transported with 40% burns to area trauma center. pic.twitter.com/XKc9fj74Ij
— Long Beach Fire (CA) (@LBFD) May 25, 2019