BATTLE CREEK (WKZO-AM/FM) — A drug-related explosion on Battle Creek’s west side has left a man hospitalized with serious burns and damaged his home Wednesday evening.
Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputies say it appears the man, who has a valid medical marijuana card, was making butane hash oil. They say the flammable chemical used in the process must have ignited and exploded in the small bathroom where he was processing the drug.
First responders arrived just before 7 p.m. Thursday and found the girlfriend of the victim helping him out of the house in the 100 block of North 26th Street.
The 26-year-old had suffered extensive burns to his upper body and was listed in serious but stable condition at the burn unit at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo.
Building inspectors say the blast blew out interior walls and the place is no longer habitable.
The situation remains under investigation.
