Illegal marijuana operation blamed for Porterville house explosion

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Police are investigating an explosion caused by an illegal marijuana operation in Porterville. The fire destroyed a house and sent one person to the hospital.

The walls of the house on North Beverly Drive are still charred after an explosion sent the entire home up in flames. Officers and firefighters responded to the house at around 8 p.m. Monday.

"While officers were there about 20 minutes later we got a report of a subject that was at the hospital suffering severe burns to his upper torso and face," said Dominic Barteau of the Porterville Police Department.

A search warrant revealed a marijuana grow was in the backyard, and that the suspect -- Arturo Rodriguez -- was trying to extract honey oil, or concentrated cannabis, from the marijuana.

"It's extremely dangerous," said Barteau. "They're using highly-volatile chemicals and it's not uncommon for them to explode like this because of the chemicals that they use in the process."

"We just heard a loud explosion as we were watching TV, me and my girlfriend, and by the time we came out the whole house was engulfed in flames," said Ivan Rayna, a neighbor.

Once inside, officers found 20 pounds of processed marijuana and 400 containers of butane. Butane bottles were still scattered across the driveway on Tuesday. Neighbors said once the fire was going they could hear the bottles exploding one by one.

"Kind of hard to believe that it's just next door, this was all going on," said Rayna.

Neighbors say there was a drive-by shooting at the house back on Halloween. Officers say Rodriguez had a medical marijuana card, but he is still facing charges for processing the marijuana illegally. He's still in critical condition at a hospital.

Rodriguez's roommate Jorge Beltran is also facing charges for possessing a high-powered assault rifle.