An illegal marijuana-grow operation in a Glendale backyard goes up in smoke

A Glendale neighborhood was rocked by an explosion Monday night after a marijuana-grow operation caught fire.

The city’s police and fire departments responded to the explosion around 8 p.m. at a home in the 2200 block of Canada Boulevard. The source of the fire was traced to an illegal marijuana honey-oil lab in the backyard.

The lab was housed outdoors under a tent-like enclosure, authorities said.

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Glendale police Lt. Tigran Topadzhikyan said the explosion was caused after butane, used in the extraction of THC oil from a marijuana plant, ignited. Butane is a volatile substance and explosions are powerful enough to cause structural damage in a building and grave bodily harm, he said.

“This particular lab was done outside and that, in itself, was not enough to take the dangers away,” Topadzhikyan said. “Anything can set off the explosion, static electricity, an electric component of a household appliance starting up … a light switch being turned on — all of those could cause a spark.”

Two 21-year-old men at the scene, both Glendale residents, are under investigation. One was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of burns to his lower extremities, while the other was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance.

In addition to the lab, officers found approximately 15 marijuana plants and an undisclosed amount of the manufactured oil.

The Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force was called in to process the lab. Topadzhikyan said the task force is the only one in the county that investigates drug labs because it requires special training to deal with hazardous materials.

He said the task force typically helps partner agencies investigate about 80 labs a year in the county.

“They range in communities from low income to very affluent, with suspects ranging from teenagers to middle-aged individuals,” he said. “They occur in industrial, residential and commercial areas — and are extremely dangerous to the community.”

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Andy Nguyen, andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc