A 26-year-old woman and a 52-year-old man were hospitalized in critical condition after an explosion that fire officials say was caused by a clandestine drug laboratory in Tarzana, authorities said Friday.
Firefighters responded at 10:56 p.m. Thursday to 18805 Redwing St., just south of Ventura Boulevard, after receiving a 911 call regarding a fire and they learned an explosion occurred inside an attached garage. The flames quickly burned themselves out in approximately 20 to 25 minutes, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Margaret Stewart.
“It was terrifying: It sounded like a war was going on,” one neighbor told Fox 11.
Fox 11 reported that a specialized task force was on the scene in the early morning hours with arson investigators from the LAFD combing through the debris in the garage, which was heavily damaged by the explosion.
“It blew off the whole back of the garage,” Los Angeles Police Department Detective Cecil Mangrum told Fox 11. “It’s just amateurs trying to make a quick buck. And it results in stuff like this — property damage and sometimes even death.”
