Police say two students have been taken into custody after two chemical-filled bottles exploded at a Memphis high school.
Memphis police said in a news release Thursday night that two 18-year-old students of Craigmont High School were charged with aggravated assault, felony reckless endangerment and possession of a prohibited weapon.
The high school was evacuated just before noon in what school authorities called a prank explosion. Officials say an assistant principal with asthma went to the hospital after inhaling smoke produced by the mixture. Police said a bomb threat had been called in to the school beforehand.
Shortly after, another bottle exploded about 15 miles away outside a Kroger grocery store. Kroger spokesman Joe Bell says a customer accidentally left behind a bottle with dry ice. No one was injured.

ST. HELENS -- A simmering dispute between neighbors in a duplex led to an apparent chemical attack early Wednesday morning that drew hazmat crews to the scene, police said.
Four people in an upstairs unit were taken to the hospital after reporting headaches, nausea and vomiting, St. Helens Police Chief Steve Salle told KGW.
Patrick Stangis, 50, who lives below the victims, was arrested for assault, reckless endangering and menacing.
Salle said Stangis admitted he was responsible for making the upstairs residents ill by pumping an unspecified chemical agent into the vents to their unit.

A CHEMICAL company was fined €300,000 yesterday over an explosion at a plant in which a worker was killed.

Liam Nodwell (58) died after suffering burns to 90pc of his body in a huge explosion on April 28, 2008, at the Corden PharmaChem plant in Little Island, Cork.

His burns were so bad that the ambulance that brought the dying man to Cork University Hospital later had to be taken out of service by the HSE and decontaminated.

Yesterday, Liam's brother and sister, Jimmy and Sheila Nodwell, told the Irish Independent nothing would ever make up for the loss of a devoted father, husband, brother and friend.

"He was a father figure to all of us -- he was a marvellous, kind, devoted man. He was worth 10 times €300,000. That's all we can say," they said.

Corden was fined €300,000 and ordered to pay costs of €72,000 after what Judge Patrick Moran at Cork Circuit Criminal Court said was "a very serious (safety) breach".

Mr Nodwell of Church Hill, Glanmire, died just hours after the explosion, which blew apart sections of the firm's Production Block II facility.

A second employee -- James O'Sullivan -- suffered multiple injuries but survived.

A civil action is understood to be still ongoing.

Corden pleaded guilty to four different breaches of health and safety regulations.

The company expressed its regrets and sympathies to the Nodwell family on their loss.

HICKORY, N.C. --
A plastic bottle filled with a chemical exploded in a dorm bathroom Tuesday night at Lenoir-Rhyne University in what was likely a prank that went too far.

Lenoir-Rhyne University’s security received a call at about 8:20 p.m. from one of Morgan Hall’s resident advisors. The caller said someone threw a 2-liter drink bottle with a chemical substance through an open window of a bathroom on the second floor of the building, according to a report filed by security officer Kevin Ripley.

When Hickory police began investigating, it became apparent the bottle was placed in the bathroom by one of the people involved in the incident, said Thurman Whisnant with the Hickory Police Department.

“It would not have been possible for it to have been thrown in,” Whisnant said.

Student Maggie Brown was in Morgan Hall when the bottle exploded in the empty bathroom.

“I was walking up the stairs, and it sounded like a boom,” she said. “It sounded like an explosive.”

Ripley told the advisor to clear the hallway of students until he arrived and could examine the bathroom. When Ripley opened the bathroom door he was overwhelmed.

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (WTW) — Inside a Crawfordsville rental property, the tenants liked to cook.

But what they were cooking got them busted, Indiana State Police say. In the kitchen, police found everything it took to make meth.

At the Days Inn in Anderson recently came a fiery explosion. Police say the same thing was cooking. But this time, it burst into flames.

Methamphetamine labs are more than just dangerous and illegal. They leave a mess -- an environmental hazard that, according to state law, must be cleaned up.

And it takes a special process, certification and inspectors who scour the property in full-gear Hazmat suits and respirators to do the dirty work.

Welcome to the world of meth lab cleanup companies, a growing and profitable business, especially in Indiana, where certain pockets of the state are hotbeds for labs.

The state, which ranks in the top five for meth production, has 22 companies certified by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to decontaminate properties.

NOBLE COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) A sergeant with the Noble County Sheriff’s Department came across a chemical odor, which led to a one pot meth lab inside a home.  The off duty officer made the discovery while jogging Sunday night.

Inside a Crawfordsville rental property, the tenants liked to cook.

But what they were cooking got them busted last month, Indiana State Police say. In the kitchen, police found everything it took to make meth.

At the Days Inn in Anderson last week came a fiery explosion. Police say the same thing was cooking. But this time, it burst into flames.

Methamphetamine labs are more than just dangerous and illegal. They leave a mess -- an environmental hazard that, according to state law, must be cleaned up.

And it takes a special process, certification and inspectors who scour the property in full-gear Hazmat suits and respirators to do the dirty work.

A pharmaceutical company has pleaded guilty to four breaches of health and safety legislation following a chemical explosion at its plant in Cork that claimed the life of one employee and led to serious injury to another.

Corden Pharma Ltd, trading as Corden Pharmachem Ltd with registered offices at South Mall, Cork, pleaded guilty to the four charges relating to the explosion at its plant at Little Island, Co Cork, on April 28th, 2008.

Father-of-one Liam Nodwell (58) from Glanmire on the outskirts of Cork city was fatally injured.

His workmate Jimmy O’Sullivan was seriously injured in the chemical explosion which happened in a process reactor on the 20-acre site.

Yesterday at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, company director Patrick Burke pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to the four breaches of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 when the company was arraigned on the charges.

Corden Pharma Ltd pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety and prevention of risk to health at work in that it failed to implement control measures to control an emission from a chemical reaction leading to the death of Mr Nodwell and injury to Mr O’Sullivan.

Four teenage boys — two from Livermore Falls and two from Rumford — are charged with setting off six soda bottle bombs and igniting two fires in their respective towns over the weekend, officials said Monday.  

The State Fire Marshal's Office charged the Livermore Falls boys, ages 14 and 15, with criminal use of explosives. They are accused of making six devices that blew up in the Baldwin, Church, Pleasant, Knapp and Green streets area, Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

During the investigation, the boys were identified and came to the Livermore Falls Police Station with their parents Sunday for questioning, state investigator Ken MacMaster of the Office of the State Fire Marshall said Monday.

The pair admitted to making the bombs, he said. The contents in the bottles created a chemical reaction that caused them to explode, MacMaster said. No one was hurt and no property was damaged but the potential was there, because they added BB's, he said.

A 55-year-old Los Osos resident was arrested on Thursday evening after an apparent attempt to convert some marijuana into hash oil in his kitchen went terribly wrong.
John Russell Odom remained in San Luis Obispo County Jail this afternoon on suspicion of manufacturing or converting a controlled substance through a chemical extraction process, a felony. Bail was set at $500,000.
Cmdr. Aaron Nix said sheriff’s deputies received a call about 7:50 p.m. Thursday after a loud explosion was heard by neighbors in the 2100 block of Ferrell Ave.
Deputies soon learned that Odom had been trying to convert some marijuana into hash oil, also called honey oil, in a process that involves butane. He did so inside his apartment with the windows closed, Nix said.
The lack of ventilation likely led to an explosion, blowing the glass sliding door near Odom’s kitchen off its frame.
Odom received some burns to his legs in the explosion, but no one else was present or injured. He was taken to a local hospital, treated and then released to sheriff’s deputies, who placed him under arrest, Nix said.

The explosion of two acid bombs Saturday night in Longmont — with no injuries — have police on a hunt to catch the bomb makers before someone gets hurt.

Acid bombs generally consist of a plastic bottle filled with an acid and a reacting base. They don't rely on a timer or fuse to explode, but usually the bomber has time to run before the chemical reaction results in explosion.

"It is a felony crime to us," said Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur. "But more important this is extremely dangerous because they are so unpredictable you can't predict when they will go off. It could be while you're holding it or placing or someone could see it and pick it up."

"I'm guessing it is a couple of school age kids who read about it or heard about it and decided to make it," Satur said.

The first bomb exploded on the porch of a home in the 1600 block of Green Place at about 10:15 p.m. Another, placed under a vehicle parked in the 700 block of Elliot Street blew up about one-half hour later.

GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A man has been charged with illegally dumping chemicals in High Point, but Guilford County officials said the suspect could have avoided arrest by dropping them off at a site for free.
Juan Antonio Cardenas faces one count of felony littering and two misdemeanor counts.
High Point Fire Marshall Mike Levins alleges Cardenas left hundreds of gallons of paint, lacquer and thinner all over the city. More charges are pending, Levins said.
Dozens of buckets were found in two places in the city–the Old Miller Desk Factory on Lincoln Road and another property on Anderson Place, Levins said.
It didn’t stop there, Levins said.
“They sold some paint. They gave some paint to other individuals, and what they couldn’t get rid of they basically just dumped on the side of the road,” Levins said.

ALBANY — City police are treating the discovery of mercury in Albany Medical Center's cafeteria as a criminal matter, saying there is a possibility that the toxic metal was intentionally placed in the hospital's food.

The criminal investigation, which is being aided by State Police and the FBI, began Friday night, when a hospital employee found a tiny metal ball on her food tray that was tested and found to be mercury, said Officer James Miller, a city police spokesman.

The cafeteria was quickly closed as a hospital's hazmat team combed the room, where they found more minuscule balls of mercury in food containers and other portions of the cafeteria, Miller said.

Miller could not say how much mercury was found, but said the fact that the rare metal was found in the food is the reason why law enforcement is considering that the chemical was specifically placed there.

ELYRIA, Ohio -- A 50-year-old Lorain County man was jailed for arson on Saturday for an explosion that injured him in his Elyria office on Friday.
Police said Robert Shaw of LaGrange was mixing chemicals to build exploding targets for firearm target practice when one blew up around 9 a.m. in the office at Diamond Products on Prospect Avenue.
He was treated for burns on his face and arms and held overnight for observation at MetroHealth Medical Center before being arrested on suspicion of aggravated arson.
No one else was injured and damage was limited to the office, police said. Diamond Products, a tool-making business that does not work with explosives, was evacuated for several hours while Elyria police, the Elyria Fire Department, the Lorain County Bomb Squad and agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms examined the scene.
Elyria police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said a search of Shaw's pickup truck turned up more chemicals and an unspecified firearm. Other unidentified powders and liquids were found in his home on Whitney Road.
Shaw's wife and daughter were evacuated as a precaution, Eichenlaub said at a press conference with the FBI on Saturday afternoon.
Whitney Road remained closed at Ohio 301 while a search continued by local, county and federal authorities. The 52nd Civil Support Group of the Ohio National Guard, experts in explosives, set up their mobile lab at the rural house.
Shaw is licensed to carry a concealed weapon. He has no criminal background or known association with a terrorist group, Eichenlaub said.

GREENACRES — Four Tradewinds Middle School students may face criminal charges for allegedly bringing a bottle containing a mix of household chemicals to school Thursday and setting it off in the gym's boys bathroom.

The four students, who also face suspension and even expulsion, are in custody, said Nat Harrington, Palm Beach County School District spokesman. Two were arrested and taken to West Palm Beach's Juvenile Assessment Center.

Two of the students brought the explosive onto a school bus and told two others what to do with it. The second pair of students set it off "as a prank," Harrington said.

A Santa Rosa Avenue auto repair shop may face criminal charges stemming from an incident in which someone reportedly hosed a chemical spill into a neighboring yard, sending the family who lived there to the emergency room, authorities said.

Santa Rosa fire and police officials began investigating the Jan. 17 incident after several inches of contaminated water flooded the neighbor's back yard, exposing an 8-year-old boy to fumes that caused him to vomit 18 times over the next three days, his father said.

The rest of the family suffered nausea, dizziness and light-headedness that sent them to the hospital, as well.

Their back yard is now cratered while crews clear out contaminated soil. The family's above-ground pool has been drained and ruined, as well.

The fire department has cited Accu Tune & Brake for three permit violations, including unauthorized release of hazardous materials, failure to report the release of hazardous materials, and failure to comply with an order to clean it up, Deputy Fire Chief Tony Gossner said.

Though the investigation is ongoing, police expect to forward a case to the District Attorney's Office seeking criminal charges, police Sgt. Mike Lazzarini said.

Police and fire personnel, as well as Safety-Kleen representative Dan Wienholz, who has been contracted by the city to sample and analyze soil from the neighbor's yard, declined to discuss specific findings, pending completion of the investigation. But Bryan Musco, hired to excavate the site, said he understood the main contaminant was gasoline.

LUCASVILLE --Two people from Salt Creek Road have been arrested as a result of an investigation into a brush fire officials say was caused by the production of methamphetamine.

Crystal R. Rigsby, 29, and Daniel L. Maynard, 36, both of 1909 Salt Creek Road, have been charged with illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, a second-degree felony; illegal assembly of chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine, a third-degree felony; and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

The investigation began about 11:15 p.m. Tuesday when the sheriff's office was called to investigate an arson-related brush fire from earlier in the day at 1909 Salt Creek Road, according to a release from the sheriff.

Upon arrival, deputies reported smelling a strong chemical odor around the home. During a search, deputies allegedly found a clandestine methamphetamine lab and numerous other narcotic related items.

Bio Safe Southern Ohio was called to the scene to neutralize the chemicals that were found.

Boston, Mass. – Feb. 1, 2012) – Two New England companies that store and distribute hazardous chemicals have agreed in separate settlements to pay a total of more than $179,000 in penalties and to donate about $43,000 worth of equipment and training to local fire departments to settle EPA claims that they violated federal laws regulating companies that handle hazardous chemicals.

Settlement agreements with EPA’s New England office were signed recently by Hubbard-Hall Inc., a chemical storage and distribution company based in Waterbury, Conn., and by Monson Companies, Inc., which is based in Leominster, Mass. and has a warehouse in South Portland, Maine.

The claims and agreements with both companies arose out of a series of inspections that EPA New England has done in the last two years at chemical warehouse and distribution facilities in an effort to address compliance issues.  Since 2009, EPA New England has brought 13 Clean Air Act enforcement actions against companies that warehouse or distribute chemicals, including seven administrative compliance orders and six penalty orders.

FORT WAYNE, Ind.— Several bombs and bomb-making materials were found at the Fort Wayne apartment of a man suspected of causing an explosion that blew off one of his hands, police said Tuesday.

Police were not releasing the name of the 43-year-old man because he is a suspect in an investigation, Officer Raquel Foster said. She said police do not yet know why he had the materials in his apartment but that he is not believed to be a terror suspect.

Early indications are that explosives are the man's hobby, Foster said. Police found containers of chemicals and jars and vials of different powders inside the apartment. Foster said authorities were still trying to determine what some of the materials are, but she said authorities do believe they were ingredients to make explosives.

Foster said owning the material is not illegal, but mixing them to make explosives is.

TORONTO - Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale, police say.

The RCMP have seized tonnes of illicit synthetic drugs that include Ecstasy and methamphetamine being shipped abroad after being “cooked” in make-shift labs in apartments, homes and businesses in the GTA.

Police are now seizing more chemicals and synthetic drugs, which they say is favoured by young people, at Canadian border checks rather than the traditional cocaine, heroin or hashish that officers call drugs of “a last generation.”

Most of the Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), meth or ketamine, a hallucinogenic used in “drug cocktails,” are smuggled from Canada by trucks, air cargo, human couriers or courier services to a network of traffickers.

RUTLEDGE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Grainger County Deputies raided a house, finding an active meth lab. When one of the people inside tried to flush the meth lab down the toilet, it exploded.

Deputies went to the house on Highway 92 in Rutledge early Thursday morning. They arrested five people: Krystal Holbert, Johnny Lee, James Keck, Brandy Gibson and Cecille Evans for making meth.


Holbert faces additional charges for aggravated burglary, theft, criminal simulation and tampering with evidence.

Deputies says she is the one who ran through the house and tried to flush the meth lab down the toilet. It exploded and burned her face. Crews took her to the hospital, then to the Grainger County Detention Center.

Springfield, Mo — A Springfield man is charged with first degree arson tonight after investigators say his meth lab sparked a fire in an apartment. Firefighters say the chemical fumes put other tenants in danger. Dale Penechar is charged with first degree arson.

An eviction sign is hung on the door of the apartment the fire started in on west Walnut Street. “It bothers me a lot the fumes could make the entire apartment, if not the building, poisonous,” neighbor Ruth Fleming said. Fleming lives right across the hall from the apartment that caught fire. She says meth is a problem. “This is where I can afford to live right now and it's prevalent,” Fleming said.

Many people who live in the eight unit building were potentially exposed. “Smoke is bad enough as it is however when you add the chemicals being used in meth production it adds significantly to the danger,” Springfield Fire Marshal Bill Spence said. “When you start heating them in a fire and you are putting them in the atmosphere they are an inhalation issue. People in the immediate area are inhaling those chemicals and those toxins.”

AS part of their continuing joint effort to smash secret drug laboratories and storage facilities in Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force are offering valuable tips on how to spot an illegal drug lab or a home-made laboratory where millions or even billions of pesos worth of amphetamines are being ‘cooked’

PDEA chair Undersecretary Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. said the following tips can be used by the public in identifying secret drug factories where shabu, Ketamine and other dangerous drugs are locally manufactured.

Once a clan lab is spotted, Gutierrez said an individual can join the PDEA “Operation: Private Eye” which is a reward and incentive scheme designed to encourage private citizens to report to PDEA any suspected illegal drug activities particularly the presence of clan labs and so-called shabu ‘tiyangges’ in their community.

FARMINGTON -- Sgt. Ken Grimes is worried a public statement about a homemade explosive detonated recently in Farmington sent the wrong message.

It described the explosive as being made of paper products -- consistent with homemade fireworks -- but failed to explain the differences between fireworks and illegal homemade explosives, according to Grimes, of the fire marshal's office.

The confusion surfaced just days after a new law made the sale and personal use of fireworks legal in Maine, leaving Grimes questioning what people actually know about the legality of explosives.

"Even though the fireworks law passed, it's still illegal to make an explosive device," he said.

The initial statement, released in an email from the Department of Public Safety, was based on Grimes' comments about his office's investigation of the incident, in which a homemade explosive was detonated on a remote farm road two weeks ago in Farmington.

A 50-year-old Bridgehampton man who tried to kill himself on Nov. 16 with noxious fumes in his car — then changed his mind and drove to the hospital, causing a hazmat team to respond — has been charged with placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the first degree, a class-D felony, according to police.

Southampton Village police said Fabian C. Seyrig de Saussure was arrested Dec. 20. Immediately after the incident, in which he mixed a fungicide and an acid in a five-gallon plastic bucket in his Volkswagen, he had been placed under psychiatric care. The Southampton Fire Department, Southampton Town HazMat Team and village police had all responded to Southampton Hospital, where he parked the car outside the emergency room.

WINTER HAVEN | New Year's Day explosions have led to four juveniles being charged with possessing a destructive device.

The four boys were arrested after exploding plastic bottles behind the apartment complex where they live, according to reports from the Winter Haven Police Department following a joint investigation with the Winter Haven Fire Department.
...
The explosions took place Sunday and again Wednesday behind Palm Place Apartments at 2041 Second St. N.W.

A Lakeland man was killed after an apparent illegal drug concoction exploded while he was driving, effectively causing his death, an eventual crash and his passenger to allegedly flee on foot.

Lakeland Police officials originally classified the investigation as an overturned vehicle with injuries Tuesday, but reclassified the investigation as a death investigation and announced the driver was killed from an illegal chemical explosion Wednesday.

Lakeland Police detectives said Clifford Ellison, 36, was killed when he mixed chemicals in a glass liquor bottle to produce an illegal form of the drug meth, known as "Shake N Bake", and the concoction exploded as he and a passenger were driving near 3955 Drane Field Road in Lakeland.

According to detectives, the explosion sent shrapnel from the bottle into Ellison's neck, causing him to crash the vehicle.

Thursday’s surprise bust of five home meth labs holds a larger lesson. It points up flaws in the safeguards used to prevent criminals from stockpiling over-the-counter medications vital to making the drug.

York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Capt. Troy Lyons said the Virginia Sheriffs Association will seek legislation in the General Assembly next month requiring pharmacies to report sales of pseudoephedrine to a centralized database.

That would enable retailers to enforce existing limits on the amount of the drug that can be purchased by consumers.

Psueudoephedrine is the crux of meth labs and is circumvented scientifically in the popular TV series “Breaking Bad.”

Eleven months after a San Luis Obispo city employee dumped toxic chemicals at a public facility, city officials have still not reported the illegal discharge to state authorities as required by law.
The failure to report the spill could leave the city with fines totaling more than $1 million.
“I would hate to imagine the fines that could result from this mess,” Doug Dowdin, a city storm water enforcement official says in a Feb. 2 email to fellow employees. “I am sure that I don’t have to stress the potential liability.”
In late January 2011, an angry city employee told several subordinates to pour out cans of acetones (solvents), varnish, epoxy, creosote, enamel paint and latex paint. The chemicals were dumped on an asphalt parking lot that abuts up to a grassy area. Paint and chemicals swirled together creating areas thick with paint and a lower section that included open soil coated with acetones, varnishes and creosotes.

The San Luis Obispo County Hazmat team was sent to investigate and clean up after someone detonated a device commonly called a chemical bomb shortly before 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Atascadero High School.
Atascadero police said the explosion of the small chemical bomb did not cause any permanent damage and no one was hurt. However, it is a felony to make and detonate one of these devices.
The bomb maker apparently combined household cleaning supplies in a plastic bottle and sealed it causing a chemical reaction that made the plastic bottle expand and eventually explode, a process frequently taught in high school science classes.

Despite a long history of emergency response calls to Hoeganaes’ Airport Road facility, the Gallatin Fire Department failed to enforce its own fire code and conduct ongoing inspections related to combustible dust-producing operations at the plant, records show.

The City of Gallatin has adopted the 2006 International Fire Code as the standard it enforces. Chapter 13 of that code is a one-page document that outlines in general terms how fire departments should handle facilities that produce combustible dust, such as Hoeganaes.

The chapter says two things: that open flames or the use of spark-producing equipment is prohibited in areas where combustible dust is stored, manufactured, or handled; and that accumulation of combustible dust in buildings should be kept to a minimum, and removed in such a way that would not cause it to be suspended in the air.

An illegal drug-making operation in a Santa Rosa home Tuesday evening sparked an explosion that caused a fire, bringing firefighters, then police officers, narcotics investigators and a bomb squad to the residence.

Officers arrested Andrew Rossini, 29, at the Morgan Street home. A second man, Anson Bernard Doucette, 41, was wanted for questioning in the case, reported Sgt. Mike Tosti.

Santa Rosa firefighters went to the house at about 5:30 p.m. for a reported fire.

They found no significant blaze but called police after seeing signs of suspected illegal activity.

LONGMONT -- Longmont hazmat officers on Thursday inventoried and secured a box of chemicals retrieved from an Allenspark man's home after he was arrested Tuesday outside of a Longmont ACE Hardware when employees there reported he appeared to be stockpiling the supplies needed for a PCP lab.

Cmdr. Jeff Satur said Thursday that Trevan Lake's parents turned over the box of chemicals and glassware following their son's arrest, his second in two years at the Longmont store on suspicion of preparing to build a drug lab.

Lake pleaded guilty in September 2010 to buying all of the supplies he needed to build a methamphetamine lab at the same ACE Hardware where he was arrested Tuesday. In that plea deal with


Longmont Police Detective John Steele holds up an item suspected in the production of PCP while processing evidence in Longmont on Thursday. ( Richard M. Hackett/Times-Call )
prosecutors, his felony conviction would have been removed from his record if he stayed out of legal trouble and followed a therapy plan. Boulder County Judge David Archuleta told Lake at the time that the plea deal was "a golden opportunity to get back on track."
Police were called to the store on Main Street on Tuesday on a report that Lake was in the store and had bought all the chemicals he would need to manufacture PCP.

Longmont Police Sgt. Sean Harper said officers stopped Lake in the parking lot and found the chemicals in a backpack. Satur said the box of supplies collected from his parents and the supplies Lake bought Tuesday appeared to be for one lab setup, so additional arrest charges are unlikely.

Lake told police after his Tuesday arrest that his parents took away and stored chemicals he already had for "experiments," but that they were not to make drugs, according to police reports.

Lake is due in court today for filing of charges.

MOUNT VERNON — Six people, including three members of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, were sent to the hospital following the discovery of an active meth lab in Apple Valley.

According to Sheriff David Barber, 37-year-old Russell C. Friend of 604 Lakeview Heights Drive, Howard, was arrested Thursday and is in the Knox County Jail on charges of illegal possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs.

Barber said at approximately 2:45 p.m. Thursday, two detectives and a uniformed deputy contacted Friend at his residence as part of an ongoing drug investigation totally unaware that a meth lab was in operation inside the house. At that time, after failing to tell officers that chemicals were “cooking” adjacent to where they were standing, Friend opened a door at which time a cloud of chemical vapors covered the three officers. Also exposed to the chemicals were the suspect and his two small children, who all were immediately removed from the house.

The Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District and EMS units responded to the scene and after decontamination at the scene transported the detectives, deputy, suspect and the children to Knox Community Hospital for evaluation. All were later released from the hospital with the children being taken into the custody of Knox County Children Services and the suspect to jail.

BETHLEHEM -- A former RPI graduate student who was arrested last November on charges that he kept a potentially volatile cache of chemicals in the basement of his apartment complex pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor count stemming from the case.

Jason Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of governmental administration in Bethlehem Town Court. He will pay a $200 fine and serve no jail time.

Sanchez originally was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony, in addition to obstruction of governmental administration and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.

If found guilty on all three charges, Sanchez could have faced a maximum of nine years in prison. The obstruction of governmental administration charge carried a maximum of one year in jail.

Police found acetone, xylene, sulfuric acid, a propane torch, butane fuel, laboratory-grade nitric acid and a device described by police as a "commercial-grade vacuum chamber" in the basement of the Cherry Arms apartment building Nov. 30.

A hashish oil-making operation – not a methamphetamine lab – likely sparked a fire inside a Lakewood home that left one man burned Friday.

After the blaze was doused, police found bags containing several pounds of marijuana and the makings of a hashish oil operation, including tubing and butane, inside the home.

Hashish oil is a potent form of THC, the main active chemical in marijuana. A drop or two of the liquid on a cigarette gives the same effect as a single marijuana joint, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reported.

Broward Sheriff's Office deputies have arrested a man who rigged his minivan to steal 255 gallons of diesel gas from a local gas station.

Xoenis Cristo Banos, 28, is charged with grand theft after he allegedly stole the gas through a trap door he installed underneath his minivan.

When BSO Fire Rescue and an Oakland Park HAZMAT crew responded to the scene and inspected the vehicle, they found the false floorboard and several hoses powered by two car batteries that fed a huge tank inside the minivan, BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella said.

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. at the CITGO located at 999 E. Commercial Blvd. in Oakland Park.

The station's owner said he was going over computer records and noticed diesel fuel was missing.

"It's like a bomb," the owner said, noting how dangerous Banos' minivan was with that much diesel inside.

HYDERABAD: Two daily-wage workers died in an explosion at a chemical unit in Amberpet on Thursday morning.

The two victims were identified as Venkata Lakshmi, 45, and Kalpana, 30, of Venkatapuram Colony, who were working at Nagamani Chemicals owned by B Nanda Gopal from Bapu Nagar in Amberpet. The incident took place at 11.30am when the two workers were mixing hydrogen peroxide, methyl ethyl ketone and sodium sulphate to produce a chemical substance used in the manufacturing of asbestos sheet moulds and coolants. The high intensity of the explosion damaged a portion of the chemical unit's roof and severely injured both Venkata Lakshmi and Kalpana.

"With critical burn injuries, Venkata Lakshmi died on the spot and Kalpana succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at a nearby private hospital," Amberpet inspector A Srinivas said.

Police said that the chemical unit was an illegal one. Nanda Gopal, the owner of the unit, has been arrested and cases have been booked against him under section 304-A (Causing death due to rash or negligent act) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa -- Two Ohio men are facing a felony drug charge after a police K-9 found a mobile meth lab in the truck they were driving on Interstate 29 near Sergeant Bluff.
Jamie S. Cremeans, 40, and William Noel Strouse, 42, both of Mount Vernon, Ohio, were arrested Saturday and charged with possession of precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, a class D felony; and misdemeanor charges of possession of drugs and child endangerment with no injury.

GIRARD - A 16-year-old Girard boy was taken by helicopter to the Burn Center at Akron Children's Hospital Wednesday following what officials said was an attempt to create a low-yield bomb in his backyard.

Dylan Herrick of 119 Crumlin Ave. suffered burns to his face and eyes when a homemade chemical bomb he was constructing exploded in his hands at around 2:15 p.m., according to a police report. When officers arrived, he was sitting on a neighbor's porch holding a towel over his face and complaining he could not see. An ambulance took Herrick to St. Elizabeth Health Center and he was later flown to Akron.

Police said the boy likely will face a felony charge alleging illegal manufacture of explosives.

The boy's brother, Dan, told police that Dylan had said he was going outside to make a ''works'' bomb, created by mixing chemicals with aluminum in a plastic bottle. When combined with certain chemicals, aluminum will create a chemical reaction that results in an explosion.

Two men were sentenced May 18 on felony drug possession pleas stemming from a meth lab case in East Bethel.
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According to the criminal complaint, an informant tipped a detective with the Anoka Hennepin Drug Task Force that Nordstrom was manufacturing meth in his East Bethel home. A search warrant was obtained and the Anoka County SWAT Team went to the home around 7:45 p.m. March 7.

When the SWAT Team went into the home, they were overwhelmed by an odor that came from the production of meth, so they removed Brekke and Nordstrom and called the East Bethel Fire Department to ventilate the home.

According to the complaint, Nordstrom told police that Brekke had been staying with him for four days and during that time, they attempted to cook meth using chicken food, toluene and lithium batteries.

Denton fire marshals arrested a man Friday afternoon on a charge of manufacturing a prohibited weapon.

Deputy Fire Marshal Chad Weldon said John Stephens, 26, was arrested after neighbors complained Wednesday night that he was setting off explosives in his yard on Howard Court.

The investigators found evidence of three bottle bombs, which are made with a combination of dry and liquid chemicals in a plastic two-liter bottle. They found no damage caused by the explosions, he said.

HOLYOKE – Another plastic milk container was found containing an unknown liquid prompting authorities to close part of Lyman Street for 90 minutes Friday.

But Fire Department Lt. Thomas G. Paquin said tests so far are inconclusive as to whether the liquid is the same as the chemical that was found in more than a dozen containers around the city last week and prompted responses from hazardous-materials teams.

Authorities believe the liquid in the plastic milk jugs last week could be a byproduct from the illegal production of methamphetamine, a stimulant drug that can lead to addiction and brain damage.

MANCHESTER -- Manchester Police said a resident of Richville Road found a suspicious container on the roadside at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

After Cpl. PJ Owens responded and discovered the canister was consistent with the type used in making methamphetamine, an illegal drug, he felt ill, police reported. He was taken as a precaution to Rutland Regional Medical Center for examination.

Manchester firefighters and rescue personnel responded and dealt with the situation as a hazardous materials situation. The Manchester Fire Department determined that the container did not hold hazardous materials, but there was an indication its purpose was some sort of incendiary device, police said.

Officials are asking that all inquiries related to the hazmat incident be directed to Fire Chief Phillip Bourn and police-related inquiries to Lt. Michael Hall.

HOLYOKE – A 14th jug containing chemicals suspected to be the by-product of the illegal production of methamphetamine found was found early Friday morning behind the C-Town Supermarket on Cabot Street.

Police Capt. Frederick J. Seklecki said the milk jug was found near some trash. “It kind of looked like it had been there for some time,” he said.

The discovery of 13 such jugs on Thursday, starting with two found along the side of Route 5 in the morning, kept emergency personnel, including members of the State Police Bomb Squad and the Western Massachusetts Hazardous Materials Team, busy throughout the day.

Enlarge Don Treeger, Republican staff photographer
4-28-11 - Holyoke- Republican staff photo by John Suchocki - Emergency workers are on the scene of two one gallon jugs half filled with what is believed to be chemicals from an illegal methamphetamine lab dumped on Rte. 5 in front of the Calvary cemetery.
Holyoke Hazmat Response on Rte. 5 gallery (8 photos)

Traffic was also disrupted in various areas of the city, starting with the shut-down of a section of Route 5 for over an hour.

The father of two suffered severe burns when his alleged clandestine drug lab exploded in the backyard of his Kemps Creek property in Sydney's southwest last year.

The aluminium shed used to make pseudoephedrine - a precursor chemical used to make illicit drugs - burst into flames shortly after midnight on October 10, police claim.

Dagger, 31, and a 23-year-old man both suffered burns. The 23-year-old man later died from his injuries.

Dagger has spent months recovering in hospital. This week, he was well enough to be arrested and charged.

Twenty people were evacuated from their homes in North Surrey Wednesday after firefighters responded to a suspicious house fire only to find chemicals giving off gas from a suspected drug lab.

When police and firefighters arrived on the scene in the 13400-block 111A Avenue at about 10: 30 a.m., white smoke was billowing from the house, but a man greeted them saying nothing was wrong, RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said.

"Clearly, there was something to worry about because the house that he was standing in front of appeared to be on fire," Grainger said.

When firefighters entered the home, they didn't find a fire, but instead found "suspicious chemicals consistent with a clandestine drug lab," he said.

HOLYOKE – Emergency personnel closed a section of Route 5 for over an hour starting late Thursday morning following the discovery of two one-gallon jugs believed to contain chemical by-product from the ilegal production of methamphetamine.

Since then, similar jugs have been found in various areas of the city, including six that were discovered behind the Signs Plus building at 62 Main St. Holyoke Fire Dept., spokesman Lt. Thomas G. Paquin.

“Needless to say they have been very busy,” Paquin said of emergency personnel and responding members of the Western Massachusetts Hazardous Materials Team.

DADE CITY - Deputies have identified the two people injured when a methamphetamine lab exploded at a Dade City house.

Kenneth Dixon, 39, and Adonia "Star" Olsen, 45, suffered burns and were taken to hospital by helicopter.

Dixon was listed in serious condition this afternoon at Tampa General Hospital. Olsen's condition was not available.

Dixon and Olsen were renting the house at 15615 14th St., the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.

Another female who was in the home at the time of the explosion Tuesday left before deputies arrived. She hasn't been identified and it isn't known whether she was injured.

LYNCHBURG -- A suspected methamphetamine lab in Lynchburg shuts down a busy street and evacuates an apartment building.

It happened at a boarding home on Park Avenue today.

That's where paramedics responded for a medical call.

Police say when they arrived, they found suspicious chemicals in the patients unit.

A Hazmat team removed the possible methamphetamine lab.

One block on Park Avenue, between Stuart Street and Langhorne Road closed for most of the day to protect the public.

Police also evacuated tenants for about eight hours.

WOLCOTTVILLE, Ind. (WANE) - Four people are behind bars in LaGrange County after police busted a meth lab in Wolcottville Saturday night. Aaron Pierce, 29, Melissa Pierce, 31, and Kenneth Jordan, 45, all face several meth-related charges. Gordon Ramey, 43, faces charges for resisting police.

Around 9:45 p.m., some LaGrange County Sheriff's Deputies were patrolling near W. County Line Road when they heard someone screaming.

They found a woman screaming and two men in the yard of 106 W. County Line Road. As the officers were walking up to the house, they could smell an illegal fire and chemical odor.

When the woman noticed the officers, she started screaming again and started to run. A man also started to run from the scene and threw a backpack towards one of the deputies.

LOWER NAZARETH TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Colonial Regional Police arrested a man after he admitted to cooking methamphetamine in a hotel room in Lower Nazareth Township.
It happened at the Hampton Inn on the Easton Nazareth Highway just before 11:00p.m. Saturday.
Police said fire officials were dispatched to the hotel for a report of a fire alarm going off in room 222.
When officials arrived, they said room was filled with smoke and had a strong chemical smell.

PORT CHARLOTTE - Charlotte County Sheriff’s detectives continue their investigation into one of two bombs exploding in a Port Charlotte restaurant parking lot Friday evening; one person was injured by chemical fumes.
 
CCSO received the call at 5:56 p.m. and dispatched deputies to Joe Crackers, 1020 Tamiami Trail. Witnesses told deputies they heard a loud bang and observed smoke coming from a plastic soda bottle they found in the parking lot. A 27 year old North Port woman said she saw the explosion and inhaled some of the smoke; she said it tasted like chemicals. EMS was called and deputies said she was treated and released at the scene.
 
While deputies checked the bottle that exploded, they located an unexploded one in the bushes nearby. Charlotte County Fire cleared both containers and turned them over to deputies for evidence and analysis.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Two Poplar Bluff men were charged Friday afternoon in connection with a suspected shake-and-bake methamphetamine lab that was hurled as an explosive device, catching a trailer on fire and injuring a Butler County deputy.
Shawn Del Daggett, 32, of the 2000 block of Hillsdale and Glenn Allen Yandell, 25, of the 500 block of Poplar Street were charged with the Class B felony of manufacturing a controlled substance by Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher.

Daggett also was charged with felony first-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, the unclassified felony of armed criminal action and felony first-degree arson.

CHARLESTON -- Police arrested two men and are looking for a woman after an apparent meth lab exploded in an East End apartment over the weekend.

Officers were dispatched to an explosion at about 7:30 p.m. Saturday at apartment C of 1422 ½ Lee St. E. and immediately detected a strong chemical odor consistent with the manufacturing of meth, Charleston Lt. Chuck Sisson said. .

MONTICELLO, Ky. — Police in southeast Kentucky have charged six people rescued from a burning home with manufacturing methamphetamine.

The six were pulled out of the home in Wayne County after authorities arrived to investigate a possible meth lab early Saturday.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that police arrived at 54-year-old Billy L. Ray's home and noticed a chemical smell. The officers heard people moving around inside the trailer, then saw smoke coming from one end. Deputies kicked in the door and found five suspects in a bedroom. A firefighter pulled out the sixth person.

CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Police booking office had to suspend operations for around an hour Saturday night after two suspects, Joseph Eric Frazier, 33, and Bobby Jo Vance, 28, were brought in from a possible meth lab. Officers processing the pair of suspects, arrested after the Lee Street apartment they were in exploded earlier in the evening, noticed a strong chemical odor on the men.
As a precaution for the suspects safety, as well as to prevent exposing officers to chemicals, the fire department decontaminated the pair. The booking office was aired out and cleaned.

The situation was not as bad as initially believed but police supervisors were not taking any chances.

EVANSVILLE — Evansville firefighters said methamphetamine-making items were found in a house near U.S. 41 where an explosion and fire occurred Friday afternoon.

The incident was reported at 1300 Sycamore St., where the street meets Harlan Avenue. Firefighters arriving at the scene reported a "strong chemical odor" to dispatchers and said part of the house had been blown out.

Brad Jordan was walking his dog on the sidewalk across the street from the home when he heard an explosion that "was so loud that it shook the ground under my feet."

Jordan said he saw two men and a woman flee the house.

It can cost thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars to homeowners, landlords and motel and hotel operators when it comes to ridding the toxins left behind by meth cooks.

The Tennessee Meth Task Force reported 2010 was a record year for clandestine methamphetamine seizures in Tennessee, according to figures provided by TMTF Director Tommy Farmer. The 2,082 cases in 2010 surpassed the previous record of 1,559 in 2004.

“The prior record was achieved in 2004, before the Meth Free Tennessee Act and Combat Meth Act were passed on state and federal levels,” Farmer said.

A Pine Street woman’s arrest marked the first meth lab bust in the city since the federal fund dedicated to cleaning up the noxious chemicals ran dry in February, leaving local agencies to foot the decontamination bill.

Jessica B. McCall, 29, was alone at her parents’ Pine Street house on Tuesday afternoon when the Bristol Virginia Police Department arrived on a tip. The house smelled strongly of chemicals, police said, and McCall apparently told officers they could search the home.

Police said they unzipped a purse hidden in a closet and chemical steam from a cooking one-pot meth lab rolled out. Police found six more “cook bottles,” along with Sudafed, Coleman fuel and cold packs – all ingredients of methamphetamine, according to court records.

Authorities discovered a suspected methamphetamine lab in a homeless camp under a viaduct north of 47th Street and Valmont Road, according to Boulder County sheriff's Cmdr. Tommy Sloan.

Boulder police officers responding to a complaint from a neighbor discovered the homeless camp Tuesday evening on


Emergency crews approach the scene of a suspected meth lab under an overpass of Foothills Parkway just north of the Valmont Road intersection in Boulder on Wednesday. (Paul Aiken / Camera)
a ledge under the bridge that carries Foothills Parkway over a railroad. They also found chemicals at the site that are commonly used to make meth, Sloan said.
Though they said there was no danger to the public, Boulder police and firefighters and the Boulder County Drug Task Force set up their staging area upwind of the camp, on the southeast side of the overpass.

IRVINGTON – Irvington Police became suspicious when they received a report of a vehicle on Osceola Avenue near Havermeyer Road Monday evening with signs in the windows that read “CALL HAZMAT.”

When they got there, they found a man, unconscious, slumped over in the front seat of a locked Jeep Liberty. Officers detected a strong chemical order coming from the vehicle and observed a container with a blue liquid.

They recognized the signs as being consistent with someone who is trying to commit suicide through the use of chemicals.

The Irvington Fire Department, Irvington Ambulance Corps, Westchester County Department of Public Safety and county Department of Emergency Services were called to the scene. As a precaution, nearby residents were asked to voluntarily evacuate the area.

After a short investigation, the vehicle was opened and the dead body of a man, identified as John Kelly, 24, was recovered, Police Chief Michael Cerone said.

Winnipeg firefighters and members of the hazmat team removed several containers of suspicious chemicals Tuesday morning from a vehicle in St. Norbert.

Police pulled over a four-door sedan Monday night on Pembina Highway near Grandmont Boulevard after observing it driving in an erratic manner.

Police discovered the vehicle in question has lapsed insurance. The 27-year-old male driver was believed to be under the influence of an unknown substance and place into custody.

A further search of the vehicle revealed large cylinders and plastic bottles in the trunk of the car. Police say the items found were consistent with a methamphetamine production.

Traffic in the area was affected for several hours as police investigated. The sedan was parked in a roped off area in the parking lot of the Mac’s convenience store.

STERLING -- A Logan County Sheriff's Office traffic stop lead to the discovery of chemicals and waste used in the production of methamphetamine Thursday. Shannon E. Ederer, 31, was arrested on charges of unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamines -- criminal attempt, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving while under suspension.
Ederer was contacted at C.R. 33 and Highway 14 for speeding. After further investigation a search warrant was issued for the vehicle. Suspicious items were located inside the vehicle and later identified as chemicals used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
Trained members of the Eastern Colorado Plains Drug Task Force and the Sterling Fire Department were called out to assist the LCSO in processing the materials. After processing, a hazardous waste disposal company collected the materials for proper destruction.

LITTLE ROCK – Some residents of a west Little Rock apartment complex woke up to the sound of an explosion Monday morning, police say it's the result of a homemade meth lab.

The explosion blew a door off the apartment at the Napa Valley Apartment complex, 501 Napa Valley Drive.

No one was injured in the blast, but the tenant of the apartment, Emily Henderson, 39, was charged with manufacturing meth and maintaining a drug premise.

Police say they are looking for a second male suspect in the case.

Chemical used in manufacturing the drug were removed from the apartment.  The explosion did not damage surrounding apartments.

ST. LOUIS (KMOV) – A man living in south St. Louis suspected of manufacturing meth is now in custody.

Police say while they suspected the man was making meth, they had not collected enough evidence for a search warrant.

However, they came into contact with the man Monday night and he proceeded to go inside the house to dump the questionable contents down the drain.
Those contents caught fire.

This happened in the 3900 block of Schiller Place, near Grand and Bates.

Firefighters initially treated the incident as a hazmat scene.

Police have charged a man with allowing drugs to be manufactured after a fatal explosion at a suspected P-lab south of Auckland.

Clint Gordon Curly, 25, died in a blast at the property on Mckinney Rd in Glenbrook just before 6pm on Thursday.

Police have revealed Mr Curly was manufacturing an "illicit drug" when a chemical process went wrong and caused the explosion.

Forensic tests will determine which drug Mr Curly was manufacturing, police said.

TULSA - Tulsa police and Hazmat crews were called in to assist firefighters Friday night after a meth lab was found during a fire call.

TFD responded to the call in the 300 block of East 11th Street just before 11 p.m. Friday.  Firefighters found smoke in the area but no fire.

Upon further investigation, firefighters found a meth lab inside the home and several people inside.  The occupants were evacuated and no injuries were reported.

The son of WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan was one of five people injured in an explosion at a clandestine drug factory in Carlisle late yesterday.

Russell O'Callaghan, 29, was severely burnt during the blast.

Fire personnel say they heard explosions and also smelled a strange chemical odor coming from inside the trailer. The Flathead County Sheriff's Department later discovered that medical marijuana cardholders had been attempting to convert marijuana into hash.

Butane, which is a highly flammable substance, was used in this illegal conversion process, and is believed to be responsible for sparking the fire and explosions. Investigators say incidents like this one are becoming more common in the Flathead Valley.

"We've seen an increasing number of marijuana-related incidents and fires as you can imagine, and it's relatively out of control," commented Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry.

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - Three people were arrested early Wednesday morning after authorities were called to a Moss Bluff residence where they discovered a meth lab.

Early Wednesday morning, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office was called to a residence on Esther Drive in Moss Bluff in regard to a noise that sounded like an explosion.

Detectives arrived and they say they discovered 26-year-old Rachel A. Graham, 44-year-old John E. Dunn and 18-year-old Steven S. Willis were in the process of manufacturing methamphetamine when an unexpected chemical reaction occurred. They reportedly threw the chemicals out of the residence before they exploded, causing a fire.

According to Giles County Sheriff Kyle Helton, one person suffered severe chemical burns March 3rd while allegedly cooking meth in the residence at 218 Ella West Circle in Lynnville.

Although the suspect has not been identified, Helton said the subject was attempting to seek medical help in Maury County when a traffic stop occurred. That person was taken from the traffic stop by ambulance to Maury Regional Hospital in Columbia, then transported to the burn unit at Vanderbilt in Nashville by LifeFlight.

“Charges are pending with a Giles County grand jury,” Helton said. “A search warrant was served at the Ella West residence by Sheriff’s Narcotics Investigator Mike Thomason. There, officers found a meth lab or what was left of one.”

Giles Fire and Rescue members stood by for fire control, a haz-mat team with Giles Office of Emergency Management and Pulaski Police Investigator Joey Turner, who is a meth certified officer, were also on the scene while officers made entry into the home, which has now been posted quarantined due to meth contamination.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State Police discovered what they called the largest "shake-n-bake" methamphetamine lab ever found in the state in St. Albans Tuesday.

The method of manufacturing the drug allows meth "cookers" to place all of the chemicals into a two-liter bottle before shaking it to start a chemical reaction, according to Kanawha County officials. The bottle needs to be burped during the process to relieve the pressure inside the container, inside which an actual fire is burning.

That means a much higher chance of an explosion or fire and is dangerous for the cook, who holds the bottle during the entire cooking process, according to officials.

Police found 41 containers both inside and outside the meth lab at 301 Vine St. George Russell Hannoush, 32, and Alisha Dawn Liberty, 32, were each arrested on three felony charges, according to criminal complaints filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. Liberty is five months pregnant, according to the complaint.

LOS ANGELES—Authorities have discovered what they believe is a methamphetamine lab and marijuana growing operation in downtown Los Angeles, spurring the evacuation of some residents and the shutdown of freeway off-ramps.
Police and fire officials say they found the operation on Santa Fe Avenue near the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 110 on Saturday afternoon.
Police say the California Highway Patrol has shut down several off-ramps and there have been no reports of any arrests or injuries.
Los Angeles fire spokesman Erik Scott says a hazardous materials team has been sent to the scene to assist the LAPD in a chemical investigation, but had no further details.

DUDLEY, N.C. — The front of a Dudley motel blew out early Friday when a methamphetamine lab inside one of the rooms exploded, authorities said.

The explosion occurred at about 4:15 a.m. at the Old Goldwater Motel, 3428 U.S. Highway 117 Alternate. The Mar-Mac Fire Department responded to the motel, but authorities said the building sustained little or no fire damage.

Valentine Morales, who lives at the motel with his family, said the explosion awakened him as he slept on a sofa. He said his first thoughts were for his wife and three children sleeping in the next rooms.

A DeSoto County homeowner got a scare over the weekend when a homemade chemical bomb exploded in a mailbox.

DeSoto County Sheriff Bill Rasco said authorities aren't sure when the bomb was placed in the mailbox at the home on Braybourne Cross in the Braybourne Subdivision, just east of Olive Branch off of Miss. 302.

"The homeowners had been out of town at a family reunion, and when they returned Sunday they found their mailbox had been disfigured by the homemade bomb," Rasco said.

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No one was injured by the bomb, which was made of Drano and aluminum foil.

Rasco said the device -- a plastic two-liter Mountain Dew bottle that contained the Drano and shredded foil -- was placed in the mailbox.

An elderly woman from Brighton who died after ingesting cyanide on Tuesday left a note in Russian mentioning the cyanide and warning family members to be careful, according to Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

An investigation into the cause of death of the woman, who police identified this afternoon as Olga Tretyakov, 72, is ongoing -- including the question of how she obtained the cyanide. She was a research technician in a laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Bill Schaller, a spokesman for Dana-Farber, said police informed the hospital of Tretyakov's death Tuesday afternoon.

"She had been a valued member of our research community for more than 20 years, and we are deeply saddened by this loss," Schaller said. "We are working closely with the Boston police to learn more about the circumstances of her death."

Cyanide compounds are often used in biomedical research laboratories. Schaller said it was not known whether Tretyakov would have had access to the chemical in the laboratory where she worked.

A Portland hazmat crew is at Ron Russell Middle School in the David Douglas School District in Southeast Portland this morning after some kind of device exploded in a bathroom.

Emergency dispatchers received at call just before 8:30 a.m., reporting the release of a chemical at the school, located at 3955 S.E. 112th Ave. Paul Corah, spokesman for Portland Fire & Rescue said a "bottle bomb" had gone off in a bathroom and that one person had trouble breathing.

Corah said it wasn't clear what the device was. He said students are not being evacuated but will be kept in their classrooms.

Port Huron Fire Department crews discovered a home meth lab after responding to a house fire about 11 p.m. Sunday at 1025 Court St.

The fire was reported by the home’s two occupants, one of whom had a chemical burn on his hand, Port Huron Police Sgt. Roger Wesch said.

During the course of extinguishing the fire, firefighters discovered chemicals and containers indicative of a meth lab, Wesch said, and contacted the police department.

The fire started in a second-story room, which sustained the majority of the damage Port Huron Fire Dept. Battalion Chief Greg Garry said. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but appears to have stemmed from a chemical incident, Wesch said.

A potentially dangerous device found in a Boone mailbox led authorities to seek help from a Wilkes County explosives team and close Roby Greene Road for more than two hours Sunday evening.
A resident in the 3000 block of Roby Greene Road opened the roadside mailbox to find an unusual item, prompting a call to 911 at about 4 p.m., according to an e-mail from Sheriff Len Hagaman.
Officers from the Watauga County Sheriff's Office who arrived at the scene requested that the Meat Camp Volunteer Fire Department and the Wilkes County Explosive Ordinance Division also respond.
The team determined that the object was a chemical catalyst/reaction vessel similar to others that have surfaced in Wilkes and Caldwell counties, Hagaman said.
The items are very dangerous and use several highly reactive chemicals. Anyone who finds a similar object should not touch or go near it, as they can react violently and cause burns, severe injuries or death, Hagaman said.
The road was closed to traffic until about 6:30 p.m. while the officers removed the device, which is being processed for evidence.