Los Osos man burned in suspected hash oil operation

A Los Osos man was being treated in the Burn Center at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno after a fire in his apartment Tuesday that authorities say was caused by a honey oil lab operation gone wrong.

Cal Fire responded to a report of a small fire at an apartment in the 1300 block of Los Olivos Avenue in Los Osos at about 4:21 p.m., a department spokesman said. When they arrived, firefighters found that one of the residents had put out a small fire in the kitchen with a fire extinguisher and taken himself to a local hospital to be treated for burns, the Cal Fire spokesman said.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit arrived and found evidence of a butane honey oil conversion lab, according to sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla. The lab process uses highly volatile butane to convert marijuana into hash oil, also called honey oil.

An elderly man who leases the apartment was inside when the fire occurred and was taken to the hospital for heart-related issues, Cipolla said.

The 32-year-old burn victim was later transported to the Fresno burn center. Once he is released from the hospital, investigators plan to charge him with manufacture of a controlled substance and elder abuse, Cipolla said in a news release.

This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 9:53 PM with the headline "Los Osos man burned in suspected hash oil operation."