Drug Cooking Operation Blows Up Apartment in Fresno

Investigators say a drug cooking operation is to blame for an explosion that blasted-out windows and caused a fire at an apartment complex in Fresno. First responders say only one person is hurt, but the explosion in East Central Fresno was strong enough to kill someone.

Investigators say a honey oil operation is to blame for the explosion at the Summertree Apartments near Maple and Shields.

Investigators arrested two men who are charged with cooking drugs inside a Fresno apartment. One of the men is being treated for burns after the apartment they were in exploded. Both men will face felony charges.

"I heard that boom sound and I was on my balcony and I heard it. It sounded like something out of a movie and the glass literally, boom," said a witness who lives across the complex from the apartment where the explosion happened.

Glass lied shattered on the grass as investigators determined the suspects were cooking drugs inside one of the Summertree apartments near Maple and Shields.

"These types of honey oil burns or cookoffs that they do are very dangerous. They are highly explosive and that’s where you get that flash bang it just blows everything out real quick," said Lt. Mike Doyle with the Fresno Police Department.

Shocked by the blast and the sight of flames, neighbors took action.

"My boy grabbed the extinguisher. Thank God he saw it because I didn’t see it. He saw it and assisted them with trying to put the fire out," a neighbor said.

As narcotics investigators spend time building a case against the suspects they say put this entire complex in danger. Neighbors feel blessed their families weren’t hurt.

"I mean it happens, but it’s different when it’s so close to home because I’ve got kids. My kids are normally outside playing," a neighbor said.

Since this drug operation was just feet from their front doors- members of this community say the danger is fresh in their minds.

"We good. We just hope everything over there is good so people can go home and nothing else is going to catch fire while they’re gone," said a neighbor who has family at the complex.

Investigators say the suspects were cooking honey oil (a marijuana extract that is made by melting down the drug and it’s extremely flammable). If you smell chemicals near your home and believe you may be in danger, you should call the Fresno Fire Department, or the police department.