METH-MAKERS FLEE WHEN HOUSE EXPLODES, BURNS

UNICOI -- A Unicoi County man turned himself into authorities Monday
night after a house, located at 102 Furman Bryant Road, was destroyed
by fire after a methamphetamine lab blew up early Monday morning,
Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris said.

Kyle Johnson, 22, who was renting the house, "was not at home when the
methamphetamine lab blew up," Harris said. "He called me and turned
himself in. He knew what was going on at the house."

Johnson was being held without bond in the Unicoi County Jail Monday
night. He is expected to be arraigned in Unicoi County Sessions Court
today on an array of charges linked to the explosion, including
manufacturing schedule II drugs and reckless burning of a house.

Harris said two Anderson, S.C., men fled the scene in a 1989 white
Ford F-350 four-door pickup and are believed to be traveling back to
South Carolina in an effort to evade arrest. "He's (Johnson) given us
a statement about the other two men, one in his 40s and another in his
early 30s, who were using the house Johnson was renting to cook the
drugs. I understand they are injured, and we aren't releasing their
names as we feel we will be making arrests in cooperation with
authorities in South Carolina, hopefully sometime tonight."

Harris said the Unicoi County Sheriff's Department and the town of
Unicoi Fire Department responded to simultaneous calls at 2:17 a.m.
Monday reporting the house fully engulfed in flames.

"The drug operation was in the house, an outbuilding and a portion of
the back yard," Harris said. "At the scene we found an anhydrous
ammonia tank, lithium strips, dehydrated alcohol and ephedra deposits.
They were cooking methamphetamine in the back of the house and, during
the process, an explosion occurred in the rear of the house, causing
the entire structure to become engulfed."

Harris said the residents in the house will be charged with arson,
operating an illegal meth lab, possession of drugs and possession of
drug paraphernalia. "It was a fireball, and it is simply amazing that
the people inside survived," he said. "We have already contacted local
hospitals and law enforcement officials because they may have
sustained injuries associated with the explosion."

"They had a water hose inside the house and tried to put the fire out
with the water hose, but the fire had basically taken over, and they
fled the scene just before our officers arrived," Harris said. An
eyewitness spotted the truck and also called the sheriff's department.

The house was valued at about $45,000-$50,000, William "Brushy" Lewis,
Unicoi County Sheriff's Department administrative assistant, said.

"We know there was the two individuals from South Carolina in the
house cooking the drugs, and maybe others were involved when the lab
exploded," Harris said.

He said several officers including himself "experienced the stench and
odor of the drugs cooking. Several officers had experienced a reaction
to the cloud when they entered the residence this morning."