Fire at THC extraction lab in Berkeley leaves 1 man burned

A man sustained serious burn injuries after a small explosion Thursday morning in a THC extraction lab in northwest Berkeley, authorities report.

The call came in just before 8:45 a.m. about a fire inside the lab in the 600 block of Cedar Street, Deputy Berkeley Fire Chief Keith May said.

A reader told The Scanner that the fire appeared to have taken place in a brick industrial building just west of the railroad tracks on the north side of Cedar Street.

Arriving fire crews found one burn victim: a man with second-degree burns on his hands, May said.

Read more about crime by neighborhood in Berkeley.

Emmanuel "Isaac" Gamboa, who works next door to the THC-making facility, told KTVU that he heard an explosion and saw the burn victim run outside covered in flames. Gamboa described it as "a crazy sight."

Deputy Fire Chief May told The Scanner that an employee of the facility had been working with chemicals and flammable gas when there was a small explosion in the 55-gallon drum he was using.

The man was taken to a local emergency room before being moved to a burn center for treatment, the Berkeley Fire Department said.

A lab spokesman told The Scanner on Thursday night that the worker was undergoing treatment and expected to recover and, counter to early reports from BFD, had managed to avoid any inhalation injuries.

May said BFD's hazmat team remained at the scene "mitigating the chemicals" as of about 11:40 a.m. after the fire — which did not spread beyond the barrel and the worker — was extinguished.

May said the scene would be turned over to a hazardous waste company for cleanup and that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

No damage estimate was provided.

Note: This story was updated shortly before 5:30 p.m. with several additional details from BFD and again shortly before 10 p.m. with comments from the extraction facility.