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Cannabis oil lab explodes in apartment, authorities say

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ORCUTT, Calif. (AP) — One person suffered serious injuries after a lab extracting cannabis oil that was inside an apartment blew up Saturday, authorities said.

At 1:37 p.m., the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department was alerted to the explosion at the apartment in the 3300-block of Orcutt Road.

A person who lived in the apartment was taken by ambulance for medical treatment, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

Sheriff's deputies found “articles that are associated with a butane honey oil lab and detectives from the Cannabis Compliance Team (CCT) responded to assist with the investigation," according to the department. As a result of the investigation, Albert Alvarado, 37, of Santa Maria was arrested on charges of child endangerment, arson causing great bodily injury, manufacturing a controlled substance, manufacturing a controlled substance when a child under 16 is present and possession of marijuana for sale. He was booked at the Santa Barbara County Jail, where he is being held on $500,000 bail.

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