Police say narcotics use is the cause of car explosion in Clovis parking lot that sent man to hospital
CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- Just before 9:00 am Friday, Clovis Police and Fire responded to calls of a car fire. But when they arrived to this parking lot on the southeast corner of Willow and Nees they quickly learned that it was an explosion.
"It appeared after they finished their investigation here and when out there with the robot and checked the vehicle that the explosion was caused with something related to related to some narcotics activity and wasn't a man-made bomb," said Josh Richards of the Clovis Police Department.
An ABC30 Insider shared video taken minutes after firefighters arrived.
Police say the man was treated for second-degree burns to his face and later released from the hospital.
Several customers and employees from a nearby fast food restaurant and gas station also ran out help after they heard the explosion.
"When I looked in the car there was a fire in there and came back into the store got my extinguisher and put the fire out and set up the little perimeter out there and put two cones out there because people kept driving off," said Charanjeet Phal an employee of the nearby Shop-N-Go.
Clovis Police had to call in their bomb squad unit because they didn't immediately know the direct cause of the explosion.
At one point an officer in tactical gear used an X-Ray machine to inspect a bag found in the car. Meanwhile, a robot was used to search other items in the car.
"Anytime we can use technology to our advantage to make sure we are a little safer," said Scott Borsch of the Clovis Police Department. "We do that so we have and EOD or bomb robot but we use it for a number of different things. So today we were able to remotely look in there."
Soon after police determined the man inside the car was using narcotics, which caused the explosion.
No word yet on if the man will face any drug charges.
No one else was injured and businesses remained open.
