POT-OIL BLAST INJURES MAN

Suspect Cooking Marijuana: Cops

A 41-year-old man is recovering in hospital with second-degree burns
after a backyard shed exploded Thursday night at his parents' south
St. Vital residence. Cops allege the injured man, listed in stable
condition yesterday at Health Sciences Centre, was in the process of
creating marijuana oil when the explosion occurred.

"He was allegedly cooking some marijuana and it went kaboom," Winnipeg
police spokesman Const. Bob Johnson said. "I don't think it cooks all
that well in a closed up shed ... It's not a good thing to do because
it goes boom."

'VERY HAZARDOUS BUSINESS'

Firefighters and paramedics were called shortly after 8 p.m. to a
mobile home at 73 Sandale Dr., where they found the victim and the
damaged drug shack.

"He was blown literally 20 feet away from the shed," said Winnipeg
Fire Paramedic spokesman Robin Alford. "It's a very hazardous business
to be in. Whatever he was using as a solvent ignited and he got the
explosion from that."

Isopropyl alcohol is typically used to extract marijuana oil from
marijuana, but it is believed he was using another substance in the
cooking process.

The highly volatile fumes apparently filled the shed and were ignited
by a flame from the portable stove he was believed to be using.

Damage was estimated at $15,000 -- $5,000 to the shed and its
contents, and $10,000 to the rear wall of the home, said Alford.

The owners of the trailer -- the man's parents -- are out of the
country on vacation, Johnson said.

The man, who didn't live with his parents, is facing several
drug-related charges. He will be charged once he is released from hospital.