PUYALLUP, Wash. — Police were forced to take cover from dangerous debris in the largest hash oil explosion investigators said they had ever seen.
When officers arrived, it seemed like cannons were going off as they hid behind their cars.
Police responded to reports of an explosion at 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 1500 block of Shaw Road.
Officers had to hide behind their cars immediately upon arriving because of what seemed like multiple ongoing small explosions.
Secondary explosions were butane aerosol cans -- lighter fluid -- being launched 7 to 8 yards from a house.
One blast was so big that a butane cylinder went right into a nearby planter and incinerated a tricycle.
Neighbors ran out to see explosions and flames shooting high into the air.
A Puyallup Police Department spokesman at the scene said three people were trying to distill hash oil outside of a home under a canopy when the explosion happened.
Police the operation was so massive that they had to close down Shaw Road to map the debris that blew out of the home.
“There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of butane cans up there. The most they've ever seen,” said Captain Scott Engle.
The spokesman said the three men burned the canopy and a car.
Police said at least 10 people live at the home.
Puyallup police have arrested a 20-year old-man after a series of explosions rocked a neighborhood.
Seth Michael Cleek was booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and reckless burning Wednesday morning.
Police and firefighters responded to Cleek’s home in the 1500 block of Shaw Road Tuesday around 9p.m. when neighbors heard explosions coming from the front yard.
Cellphone video shot by an eyewitness shows flames and several loud popping sounds. Police said the explosions were caused by cans of butane that were used to extract hash oil from marijuana.
“That really troubles me,” said neighbor John Emmons. “You always hear about those things but you never figure it’s going to be in your own neighborhood.”
Puyallup police took three other people into custody for questioning along with Cleek.
All three were released without being charged. Police said 10 people were in the home when the explosions began. Most of them, including a mother and young toddler, left before emergency crews arrived.
“There was a 14-month-old that had been there,” said Puyallup police Sgt. Dan Pashon.
No one was hurt.
The spokesman said hash oil is a relatively new problem for Puyallup, but doubts it will be the last.
“We do expect to see more of these, they are again something that can be done quickly, but they're very volatile as we've seen in this situation,” said Engle.
KIRO 7 recently investigated the growing problem of hash oil explosions.
KIRO
