When The San Benito County Fire Department responded to a blaze
on Westside Road Thursday night, firefighters found more than just
a burning building. They also discovered what was probably a meth
lab.
Investigators with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department
and the Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team will sort through the
charred remains of the burned building today to determine if what
firefighters found was a major meth lab or just a small-time
operation.
When The San Benito County Fire Department responded to a blaze on Westside Road Thursday night, firefighters found more than just a burning building. They also discovered what was probably a meth lab.
Investigators with the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department and the Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team will sort through the charred remains of the burned building today to determine if what firefighters found was a major meth lab or just a small-time operation.
The investigation began Thursday at about 9:30 p.m. when the county fire department was called to a structure fire at 151 Westside Road about a tenth of a mile north of the Buena Vista Road intersection. The fire was located in a small building next to a water tower behind what appeared to be an abandoned house.
While firefighters were putting out the blaze they found some chemicals related to the production of methamphetamine, fire officials said.
The fire crew called the sheriff’s department to investigate while they continued to douse the smoldering fire, which damaged the water tower so much that it will be knocked down today to prevent the structure from accidentally falling over and injuring someone.
When deputies arrived at the scene, the person who reported the fire and lived on the property told them that while he was in jail, his girlfriend had been “cooking meth” on the property, Sheriff Curtis Hill said.
Hill said finding meth labs hidden on otherwise abandoned property is not unusual.
“We’ve had that kind of thing out in the Panoche area once before,” he said. “Some of these people use just about any place they can to make this stuff.”
The fire was extinguished without endangering any other nearby homes, fire officials said.
