Man cooking hashish oil caused Forest Grove home explosion
FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Police arrested a Forest Grove man who they said was cooking hashish oil when he caused a large explosion at his home, injuring five people Monday night.
Officers responded to a home at 1908 C Street at around 9:15 p.m. after neighbors reported a "loud boom", followed by a man running up and down the street screaming that he had been burned.
A ten-day-old infant and a one-year-old child were injured in the blast, along with two women. Police did not release their names. They were taken to a hospital, but later released.
Bernard Frank Heflin, 22, (photo at right) initially told police he was cooking eggs when the explosion occurred, but later he admitted he was cooking hashish oil, a concentrated substance made from marijuana. Hashish is made by using butane gas to strip the oil off marijuana. Butane is heavier than air and can collect on the floor where it can sometimes ignite.
Police said making hashish oil is not only a felony, but it's extremely dangerous due to toxic and flammable fumes emitted during the process.
Some of the walls of the home were bowed out and several items were knocked off the walls in the explosion. Police said there was "significant damage" to the structure.
There is no damage estimate at this time. Police said they recovered evidence from the damaged home.
Heflin was treated for burns at a hospital, then arrested. He faces charges of manufacturing a controlled substance and two counts each of reckless endangering, criminal mistreatment, child neglect and endangering the welfare of a minor.
Police said they are working with the Department of Human Services to make sure the children are safe.
In November of last year, a medical marijuana patient was severely burned by an explosion while he was making hashish oil.
That explosion blew out a wall of his Washington County apartment and propelled household items at least 50 feet.
It looks like marijuana is not perfectly safe after all especially when mixed with butane.  Its too bad the kids are involved they will probably be in foster homes now. Â
They were real stupid to make honey oil with butane and flame. Why not just use medical marijuana and not burn off your skin? Great $2.99 e-book on medical marijuana: MARIJUANA - Guide to Buying, Growing, Harvesting, and Making Medical Marijuana Oil and Delicious Candies to Treat Pain and Ailments by Mary Bendis, Second Edition. This book has great recipes for easy marijuana oil, delicious Cannabis Chocolates, and tasty Dragon Teeth Mints.Â
I liked hash oil until it started to taste like motor oil. I wonder if the recipes are better now.
How did this guy not burn his hair off? Â
Wait, maybe his hair was much larger before the fire.
Bernard Frank Heflin, does the word 'stupid' ring a bell?
"Ha"! "Sheesh", I knew there was more to this story than was first reported! Thanks for the update, KATU!
This was a horrible thing and it affected many family memebers
K2 you need to revise your headers. Should say "Bozo Blows Building and Busted". Worst case scenario it would make a great country song!
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@feral Why not just leaglize weed and sell hash oil? Butane is just one solvent that can be used for processing hash. Knee jerk much?
Eggs, hash oil, what's the difference, right?
Somebody needed to attend community college to learn about cooking?
10 day old infant and 1 year old child.... nothing like taking care of your children...incident #2 today involving infants. Â
Uh oh, another "pot is harmless" pitfall.
Breaking news: Person cooking anything like an idiot creates explosion.Â
For you commenters mocking the "harmless" marijuana angle, understand a few things:
The product being made, butane hash oil, can be made safely. Â It can be made into a very potent and pure medicine by well-trained producers.
But since it is prohibited, it sells for $20-$50 per gram. Â It reduces from five to ten times its original source material. Â So it is quite feasible to gather a whole bunch of Oregon-cheap weed (often, hash makers gather the "trim" and "shake" from the sellable "buds"), blast it with some butane, and have a whole bunch of profitable oil to sell.
Since it is prohibited, there are no safety regulations on manufacturing it. Â It's also more difficult for the buyers who want it to be able to get it.
If you want to know the solution to the exploding BHO problem, ask yourself this: how many moonshine still explosions have you heard of recently?
@RadicalRuss Say that when its your daughter and granchildren
@RadicalRuss Â
Making pot legal won't change someone making it for their own use.. And we all know pot doesn't cure stupid.
@RadicalRuss How many moonshine stills are still in operation?
You gotta do that outside...idiot, if you can't then use Isopropyl Alcohol, not as good but much safer in enclosed spaces.
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@TheUglyTruth Who are you kidding? It's the most harmful substance to Big Pharma's bottom line.Â
@TheUglyTruth Or ask any statistician.
I am just guessing here but I bet Bernard Frank Heflin was not a chemistry major.
If the police are investigating this event, and not the fire marshal, then there is information not yet made public! Â
Legal or not he could have killed them including two babied
@worried Less welfare for the rest of us to pay? Assuming these people couldn't handle basic highschool chemistry.   ....oh wait....
Too bad it wasn't in Washington. I thought Marijuana was still illegal in Oregon. I'm assuming Forest Grove is in Oregon and not Washington.
One can buy BHO on craigslist.
http://portland.craigslist.org/search/sss?zoomToPosting=&altView=&query=ommp+bho&srchType=A&minAsk=&maxAsk=
Link will not work. You will have to copy and paste.
You can fix stupid.
@Shadow Â
You mean blowing yourself and your gene pool up?
@Shadow Oh, how?
NICE.....Way to include the family in on the damaging effects of a drug habit.Â
Damn, my money was on a meth house. Oh well next time......
@Jeepers Â
No it was a 'peaceful' pot user this time. Expect more of same.
Christ, google "how to make bho" and DO IT OUTSIDE. Derp.
Next time just make some butter................