For Immediate Release
Sergeant Anthony Prencipe
On January 1st, 2018 at about 1525 hours, El Dorado County Fire responded to an explosion heard at a residence in the 5100 block of Pony Express Trail in Camino. A short time later, fire personnel requested El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office to respond to the scene for a possible butane extraction lab explosion. As Sheriff’s deputies and detectives responded to the scene, medical personnel treated Joshua Jamison (39) from Camino for burns to his face. Jamison was transported to a local hospital for his injuries; he has since been treated and released. A juvenile was also transported to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation and was later released. Two other juveniles were found to be inside the home when the explosion occurred and they were uninjured.
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office detectives and an El Dorado County arson investigator began looking into the nature of the explosion and were quickly able to determine that it was the result of an illegal butane extraction lab that was being done in the bathroom of the home. The illegal lab was being used to produce concentrated cannabis. There was extensive structural damage to the home as a result of the blast. Many interior walls were cracked or moved and multiple exterior walls were pushed off of the foundation. El Dorado County Code Enforcement was called and has deemed the home unsafe to occupy.
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office detectives conducted interviews of the residents of the home and a search warrant was served at the location. Numerous items of evidence in support of a butane extraction lab were collected per the search warrant. This is an ongoing investigation with the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, El Dorado County Fire, CPS and Code Enforcement. The case is to be forwarded to the El Dorado County District Attorney for review and no arrests have been made at this point.
