Police: 2 burned in hash oil lab explosion near Sebastopol

Two men were injured Wednesday night when a hash oil lab exploded at a home south of Sebastopol, authorities said.

The men drove to Sonoma West Medical Center without alerting authorities to the explosion, and told hospital staff they were burned in a barbecue accident, though they couldn’t provide any details about it, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Deputies were called in after hospital staff became suspicious about the origins of their burns. The men’s names are not being released because they aren’t under arrest, sheriff’s spokeswoman Misti Harris said.

Both men suffered severe burns and had to be transferred to an out-of-county hospital, Harris said. One was taken by helicopter.

When detectives went to the Wendell Lane house, they discovered a damaged hash oil lab in one of the outbuildings and a melted garbage can of marijuana outside, the sheriff’s office said. Someone had hosed down the building.

- Christi Warren