Investigators examining if Mead trailer explosion related to hash oil extraction

Hash oil extraction may be responsible for the trailer fire that sent two Mead residents to Harborview Medical Center with severe burns last week.

The Oct. 15 fire started in a trailer at 4012 E. Third Ave. in Mead. Investigators determined the fire was accidental and found 24 butane containers in the trailer, Spokane County Fire District 9 Assistant Chief Doug Bleeker said.

“This thing exploded first and then had fire throughout, which is very consistent with a rogue fuel gas,” he said.

Bleeker said fire investigators did not find a collection container or pipe typically used to extract hash oil from marijuana, nor did they find any oil on the premises. But the amount of butane found suggested hash oil extraction.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office was called to the trailer to investigate after the fire. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory said deputies had enough evidence of drug manufacturing to get a search warrant, but haven’t been able to continue the investigation because the trailer’s residents are still in the hospital.

Both Bleeker and Gregory declined to release their names and said as far as they know, the injured man and woman are still in the hospital and don’t appear to have life-threatening injuries.