Injury from P blast claims a harsh first

By PATRICK GOWER

A man critically injured in a methamphetamine lab explosion is believed to be the first serious casualty of the kind in New Zealand.

Flames from the explosion destroyed a holidaying Auckland grandmother's home on Monday and left the 30-year-old with severe burns.

He is now in a medically induced coma.

Fire tore through the garage and a bedroom, destroying a car and leaving most of the house smoke damaged.

Police described it as "the result of a meth mix going wrong" after their drug experts confirmed suspicions that the lab was producing methamphetamine, known as P.

Although many people have been injured or killed in similar circumstances overseas, police believe it is the first time someone has been injured in such a way in New Zealand.

The man had staggered from the Kohimarama house, before lying on his back in a neighbouring driveway, where he was doused with a garden hose.

He has burns to 70 per cent of the front of his body and has already undergone several operations in Middlemore Hospital.

He is expected to be in hospital some time.

Detective Constable Ewen Settle said the grandmother was in no way linked to the lab or to the injured man.

She was "off the island" but had been informed of the explosion by family and was coming home.

Neighbours say she is "a lovely woman" who shared the house with a grandson who may have known the injured man.

Most of the house has damage of some kind, although some of her personal belongings in the far corner of the lounge escaped unscathed.

Mr Settle said police had spoken to the grandson and "we are not looking at a burglary situation".

He said they were also looking for a further two or three people who may have been nearby at the time of the explosion.

No arrests have been made.

The burns to the front of the man's body led police to suspect he was looking at what he was doing.

Firefighters had also found containers that held the chemical acetone, which is used in the production of the drug and a cooking element near the seat of the fire in the garage.

"The process of making P involves applying heat to extremely flammable substances by people who are not skilled chemists," Mr Settle said.

"So of course this is a disaster just waiting to happen."

The Insurance Council said there was "a big grey area" surrounding whether the grandmother would be paid out by her company.

Chief executive Chris Ryan said, depending on her policy, she may miss out because it was an illegal activity or even because it was "a commercial and industrial practice in a residential zone".

Mr Ryan said methamphetamine was causing increasing insurance-related problems for landlords and motel owners.

As well as the threat of similar explosions, he said there was the pollution damage the process did to rooms when it was successful.

"P is popular. The problem is, you have to make it somewhere."


Herald Feature: The P epidemic