Clean up continues in West Fresno, after a meth lab explosion destroyed one home and damaged several others Thursday. Friday, the neighborhood is still shaken.
Sylvia Guerra remains a little on edge.
Guerra says, "I just felt this really huge boom. It shook the house, it shook me."
A meth lab exploded just doors away from Guerra's home. Now she's wondering if she's safe.
Guerra says, "I was thinking, am I breathing anything? It's dangerous because I don't know what those chemicals would do."
Investigators say a meth conversion lab was operating inside this home on Katy Lane.
Lieutenant Rick Ko, Fresno County Sheriff's Office says, "Right now most of the methamphetamine is being produced in Mexico and being sent over in various stages and forms and then it's converted into the finished product here."
Not as many chemicals are used in this operation, but the ones that are, can still be deadly.
Lt. Ko says, "Still a very dangerous process because you're still using propane and acetone and other hazardous chemicals that can create explosive type hazards, and still hazards to human health with the inhalation and contact with those types of chemicals."
Authorities tell us all dangerous material has been cleaned up. Friday, crews fenced up the property. Thursday's blast blew the entire back of the house out and set fire to the home. The fire spread to a house next door. Windows in several other nearby homes were shattered.
"I saw that part of the air conditioner unit went on top of the neighbors, so that can dangerous because what if I was outside? I thought about that," says Guerra.
Guerra feels like she's dodged a bullet, and now says she plans to be more alert.
"It was another new level of danger and I just have to be made aware of what's coming into my neighborhood."
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says it's always important to know who your neighbors are and to be aware of your surroundings. People should also contact police if they ever smell any unusual chemicals in the air or see any unusual lab equipment going in and out of a home.
According to authorities, the number of meth lab busts in the Central Valley have decreased about 80% in the last decade or so.
TXT 24
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