BUTANE GAS EXPLOSION DURING THE PRODUCTION OF HASH OIL INJURES VAIL VALLEY, COLORADO MAN
APRIL 30, 2015
(Photo: Rocky Mountain HDIA)
EAGLE-VAIL, COLORADO
Colorado’s marijuana industry has taken off with a bang — literally.
An Eagle-Vail man said a malfunctioning valve in his legal hash oil cooking system caused an explosion Wednesday afternoon.
About two hours after the explosion, Ryne Wilhelmi, 24, called the Vail Daily from the local hospital to tell his side of the story.
Wilhelmi said he was outside on the back porch of his Eagle-Vail townhome when a valve failed on his closed-loop hash oil system. They’re designed to keep highly flammable butane gas from escaping.
“The valve popped, and I jumped back,” Wilhelmi said. “When I did, the static electricity in my sweatshirt ignited it.”
Wilhelmi said he was running a state-approved closed-loop system, legal in Colorado.
“It’s legal as long as you’re running a closed-loop system,” Wilhelmi said.
It’s prohibited, Sheriff says
The closed-loop system is prohibited in residential areas, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“If you’re in a residential area, you’re endangering everyone around you, and yourself,” said Jessie Mosher, public information officer with the Sheriff’s Office.
Wilhelmi will be charged with reckless endangerment, a Class 3 misdemeanor; criminal mischief, a Class 6 felony; first degree arson, a Class 3 felony; and offenses relating to marijuana and marijuana concentrate, a Class 3 felony.
Wilhelmi was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when the explosion occurred. He said he has burns on his arms and legs.
“This is a legitimate part failure,” Wilhelmi said. “I’m all about safety and keeping (stuff) safe when it does go wrong.”
Wilhelmi said he moved quickly to ensure his neighbors’ safety.
“When the flames went up, I made everything as safe as I could,” he said. “I just went into safety mode as quickly as I could.”
“It was a very minor catch, and I did everything I could to make it safe,” he said.
When deputies with the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene, they suspected Wilhelmi of making butane hash oil, which caused the explosion. Butane hash oil is a highly concentrated form of marijuana. It is made with butane gas and marijuana in a pressurized metal tube.
But without proper ventilation, butane fumes can linger. All it takes is a spark of static electricity to ignite a room, local firefighters said.
Big boom
The back of Dustin Tombari’s townhome backs up to a 30-foot-wide strip of land and trees between Wilhelmi’s townhome complex and his.
Tombari said the explosion was so loud he thought it was in his own home.
Wilhelmi dragged the burner across that open space and dropped it into green grass and mud, telling Tombari he was trying to make it “safer.”
“When he dropped it, he opened a valve and a bunch of white stuff came out,” Tombari said.
Alante Shelby, 24, moved to the area from Michigan three weeks ago and lives in the townhome next to Wilhelmi.
The cooker exploded at 12:37 p.m. Wednesday, Shelby said.
“I was downstairs sleeping when I heard a boom,” Shelby said. “It sounded like a sonic boom. I looked out and saw a bunch of smoke.”
He saw a red push broom was on fire just off the porch, right under a pine tree and in a pile of wet needles.
“It’s dangerous,” Shelby said. “He was badly burned.”
Not a makeshift cooker
Wilhelm pointed out that his was not one of the makeshift hash oil operations that cause so many explosions, such as the one last year in Avon’s Liftview Apartments that blew an 8-foot hole in the kitchen drywall.
“When they use butane, the gases gather and the danger of explosions is much higher,” Wilhelmi said.
Even with a system like his, Wilhelmi said it’s not accident proof.
“Accidents happen, even with closed-loop systems that are well maintained,” he said.
Wilhelmi had not been charged with anything by mid afternoon Wednesday. The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that Wilhelmi will be charged with something, but they are still investigating the case and have not yet determined the charges.
He said he was doing nothing illegal and was “totally compliant” with the deputies and firefighters.
As the scene was secured by Eagle County sheriff’s deputies and firefighters from the Eagle River Fire Protection District, an exhaust fan was blowing out from a downstairs bedroom with a Bob Marley flag hanging from the window. The smell of marijuana wafted out of the townhome from that bedroom door.
Second hash oil explosion in a year
Wednesday’s hash oil explosion in Eagle-Vail is the second in a year in Eagle County.
Joshua Rosenbaum, 22, was using one of those makeshift cookers when he blew an 8-foot hole in the kitchen drywall of his Liftview apartment in Avon. Rosenbaum was trying to produce hash oil, but instead produced an explosion when butane gas ignited.
Rosenbaum was home alone and no one was injured.
It’s a felony in Eagle County
Some prosecutors are charging hash cookers with felonies, while others say hash oil production is protected under a provision of Colorado’s legal pot law.
In Eagle County, District Attorney Bruce Brown says it’s a felony. He charged Rosenbaum with arson, a felony, to which Rosenbaum eventually pleaded guilty.
Rosenbaum received a deferred four-year prison sentence, which means that if he can stay out of trouble for four years, apologizes to everyone in the neighborhood, speaks to schools and youth organizations, does useful community service and keeps a full-time job, he won’t go to prison.
In addition to Wednesday’s Eagle-Vail explosion, similar explosions have hit Leadville, Frisco and Avon, said the District Attorney’s Office.
“As Coloradans, we should be setting an example for other states. Leave the hash oil distilling to the professionals,” Brown said when Rosenbaum was arrested and charged.
Hash oil blows up
Hash oil is typically made by packing the castoff leaves and stems of pot plants into a pipe and pouring highly flammable butane through it. The concoction is heated to make the potent oil. It’s far less expensive than buying it in stores.
The golden-colored mixture can be up to 80 percent THC, marijuana’s intoxicating chemical. Devotees say one or two drops can produce a more euphoric high than an entire joint. It can also be infused into baked goods or vaporized.
Source: http://www.vaildaily.com
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Hash Oil Labs on Rise in Utah
A 24-year-old man is accused of extracting and manufacturing butane hash oil from marijuana in his North Salt Lake home.
Davis County Sheriff's deputies were serving a warrant in North Salt Lake to arrest Randy Travis Chapman on Aug. 4, according to a probable cause statement of arrest filed with Davis County Jail.
The officer found Chapman at his home in the area of 600 N. Excalibur St., North Salt Lake.
Other than finding Chapman, officers also found containers with marijuana, a large water bong and cash in the living room, according to the document.
Officers got a search warrant and found more items, which included firearms, more containers of marijuana, plastic bags and a "black pocket book containing pay and owe records."
One room was also set up as a "clandestine lab to extract and manufacture Butane Hash Oil," according to the document. Officers confiscated a butane torch, multiple metal cans of butane gas, two different sized glass extraction tubes, coffee filters, and other items.
Extracting oil from marijuana by using butane lighters is apparently a growing trend in Utah, according to Deputy Davis County Attorney Rick Westmoreland.
The finished product is also known as BHO, dabs, crumble, shatter and hash oil, officials said. The oil is a concentrated form of tetrahydrocannabinol (TCH) -- the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that produces the "high" users want.
That oil is different than the kind that's legal in Utah. In 2014, state lawmakers passed a bill making legal cannabidiol, an oil derived from a hemp called Alepsia and used to treat severe, debilitating epileptic conditions. It contains low levels of THC.
"In the last year, we've filed 10 to 15 cases, which doesn't sound like a lot, until you realize three years ago we had none," Westmoreland said.
Davis County Sheriff's Sgt. DeeAnn Servey said BHO "is the new cool thing to do to get high. There's not the odor of cannabis."
The concern among officials is two-fold, Westmoreland said.
The first concern is the process can cause fires and explosions. To date, there have been no reported fires in Utah caused by butane hash oil, said Doug Bitton, public information officer with Layton Fire Department.
Bitton said his department and other fire agencies across Utah receive regular reports about fires and the causes.
Surrounding states, like Colorado, have seen fires caused by people making butane hash oil, which have not only caused property damage, but also seriously injured those making the oil.
Servey said the fires are caused because the person extracting the THC oil from the marijuana has to use a butane lighter which is flammable.
The second issue that concerns officials is the quality of the finished product, Westmoreland said.
"People who make it don't know the potency," he said. "They are trying for a high potency of THC by extracting the oil to get a high, but they could end up killing themselves because of the high potency."
Chapman was booked in the Davis County Jail on one count of operating a clandestine laboratory, one count of possession of a controlled substance with the intent to distribute, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, one count of possession of a firearm by a restricted person and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held in the Davis County Jail in lieu of a $100,000 bail.
The Davis County Attorney's Office is reviewing the case before filing formal charges.