BURNED IN RECENT BLAST, MAKER OF METH DIES

A former North Charleston resident twice arrested during police raids at
methamphetamine labs, met a tragic end at yet another meth lab, this time in
a trailer in the Tennessee woods.

Andy Laverne Thornhill suffered second- and third-degree burns on his
entire upper body, according to The Wayne County News, when his lab
exploded late last month while he was cooking up a batch of meth.

Thornhill, who had a lengthy history of drug arrests in South
Carolina, languished in a hospital for nearly three weeks before he
died. Another man, who rolled Thornhill on the ground to extinguish
the flames, was hospitalized with second-degree burns on his hands.

Tennessee was the final chapter for Thornhill, 52, who left his last
criminal mark on the Lowcountry earlier this year when he and his
wife, Laura Blanche Thornhill, were arrested at InTown Suites on
Mazyck Road when police found a methamphetamine operation.

The arrest in February came about seven months after the couple were
arrested at a rental house in the Deer Park community, this time after
authorities found a drug-making operation in an outdoor storage shed.
Thornhill and his wife ultimately weren't prosecuted in the
meth-production cases, but he pleaded guilty to other charges,
according to court records.

Methamphetamine has grown in popularity because of its low cost and
its quick, long-lasting high. Labs use household chemicals such as
paint thinner, lye and the common farm fertilizer anhydrous ammonia.
Combined, these chemicals are so combustible that turning on a cell
phone can spark an explosion.

The labs are a growing concern for law enforcement, said Spencer
Pryor, spokesman for the North Charleston Police Department. The city
has raided eight labs this year, compared with three in 2003.

City Councilman Bobby Jameson, who lived across the street from the
Deer Park rental house, said the arrests shocked local residents.

Jameson said Friday that he felt lucky the accident didn't happen on
his street, where police officers told him there were enough dangerous
chemicals stored to burn down the block. "That could have been my
neighborhood," he said.