‘Honey oil’ lab causes Santa Rosa explosion, suspect arrested

A Santa Rosa man is accused of endangering his young sisters by manufacturing butane hash oil, which caused their home to explode Sunday night, police said.

Cameron Lenzini, 22, was arrested in the 1000 block of Russell Avenue, where he lives with family including two children ages 7 and 12, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department.

He’s suspected of child endangerment, manufacturing drugs and causing a fire at an occupied building.

According to police, the explosion occurred as Lenzini was making butane hash oil in his garage.

Hash oil, also known as honey oil, has a high concentration of THC, which makes it much more potent than regular marijuana.

Butane is used to extract the concentrated oil from marijuana leaves. The process can cause a room to fill with flammable, highly explosive gas.

Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chris Mahurin said honey oil labs were discovered by police more frequently several years ago but in recent years, these illicit operations have slowed because they aren’t considered as profitable given the availability of legal marijuana.

Last year, a Santa Rosa man was injured and later charged following an explosion caused by butane canisters that were being used to produce hash oil. The man, Michael Crawford, pleaded no contest to one count of manufacturing a controlled substance in June.

Just before 10 p.m. Sunday, dispatchers received multiple 911 calls regarding an explosion at the Russell Avenue home.

An ambulance crew arrived and found smoke coming from the garage. Its door was “blown open” and a fire was visible inside, according to the Police Department.

Four adults and two children lived at the home but all were evacuated by the time authorities arrived.

Santa Rosa firefighters put out the fire and paramedics evaluated one person at the scene for smoke inhalation.

The explosion forced the garage to shift several feet from its foundation in multiple directions and caused major damage inside, according to the Police Department.

The attached home had moderate damage and was not inhabitable.

Sonoma County jail records show Lenzini was in custody in lieu of $100,000 as of Monday afternoon.

He’s scheduled to appear in Sonoma County Superior Court as early as Tuesday. Charges had not been filed Monday afternoon and it wasn’t clear if the suspect had an attorney.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi