Blast in Home Drug Lab Critically Burns Parolee
Police are investigating the explosion of a large methamphetamine lab in South Pasadena that critically burned a 47-year-old parolee and caused more than $100,000 in damage to a two-story home, authorities said Wednesday.
The blast, which rocked the 1300 block of Indiana Avenue shortly before midnight Tuesday, severely burned the legs, arms and face of Jack C. Helms Jr., a state parolee who served prison time for manufacturing a controlled substance, according to police.
Firefighters said the blaze consumed the upper floor of the house. They said they found Helms at the top of a ladder, attempting to fight the flames with a garden hose.
Authorities said the explosion was caused by a large, sophisticated methamphetamine lab on the second floor. Police said they seized “a substantial quantity” of finished methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant.
Helms, who also suffered from smoke inhalation and deep lacerations, was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena and transferred to the burn unit at County-USC Medical Center, where he was in critical condition. He has not been arrested.
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