DINUBA MAN BURNED IN METH-LAB FIRE

DINUBA - The main suspect in a methamphetamine-lab fire was rushed to
University Medical Center in Fresno early Tuesday with third-degree burns
to his chest, arms and face.

Although not under arrest, Ramiro Guerrero, 25, is suspected of
manufacturing methamphetamine in the basement of a rural home near Dinuba,
police said.

He also is suspected of child endangerment because five children, ages 2
through 8, were upstairs asleep when the fire broke out about 2:30 a.m.
Tuesday at 38592 Road 74.

The fire was caused when fumes from a methamphetamine laboratory collected
in an unventilated basement and exploded, said Lt. Richard Matthews of the
Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

"He's a suspect at this stage," Matthews said. "We'd like to talk to him."

The man's wife called 911, and an ambulance took Guerrero to the Fresno
hospital before sheriff's narcotics investigators arrived.

Investigators have not determined whether the man's wife was involved,
Matthews said. The children were left under her care. Her name was not made
public.

Firefighters who fought the fire called the sheriff's department when they
figured out it was a meth-lab blaze, Matthews said.

It appears that someone was boiling packages of pseudoephedrine cold
medication in denatured alcohol to obtain a powder used in the manufacture
of methamphetamine, Matthews said.

The propane flame under the pot ignited the fumes, causing the explosion.

Chemicals and equipment were seized.

The bust marks the 151st methamphetamine-laboratory, or lab-dump,
investigation in five years in Tulare County, Matthews said. To date, about
173 pounds of methamphetamine have been seized, worth around $1.3 million
on the street.

A "hit" of methamphetamine, about one-quarter of a gram, costs about $20.
It is usually smoked.

The state Bureau of Narcotics Control will collect the materials and
dispose of them with help from a private company, he said.