Fire greatest threat to meth lab neighbors

Keith Paul

Thursday, March 22, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

Toxic, flammable chemicals are used in cooking up batches of methamphetamine that can often lead to explosions such as what happened this week in the Regency Towers, but officials say nearby residents should not face any harmful effects.

"The fire actually burns off most of the chemicals," said Richard Brenner, a fire protection engineer for the Clark County Fire Department. "It's pretty dangerous for the firefighters, but we wear self-contained breathing apparatus."

The fire Monday about 11:30 p.m. in the Regency Towers, a high-priced condominium high-rise building at the Las Vegas Country Club, was blamed on a 43-year-old woman accused of making methamphetamine. The fire gutted the condominium she was in and forced the evacuation of about 80 people.

The most severe danger from a meth lab explosion in an apartment complex to unsuspecting neighbors is the fire, not the chemicals, Brenner said.

"Most of the toxic chemicals cause you to get sick when you come in direct contact with them," he said.

That's why Metro Police narcotics detectives and firefighters are the ones exposed to most of the dangers from the chemicals.

When the police break up a meth lab, they go in and collect evidence only after donning protective clothing, goggles and gloves, said Lt. Chris Van Cleef of Metro's narcotics unit.

"When they are cooking up this drug, they are absorbing some of it through their skin, and there are times when we find kids at meth labs while the cooking is going on," he said. "The problem is whenever they cook up a pound of meth there is about six pounds of hazardous waste left over."

Meth is made by taking ephedrine tablets, found in over-the-counter decongestants, and heating them until the binders are cooked off, leaving behind the ephedrine. Making the final product includes the use of hidriotic acid, found in iodine crystals and red phosphorus.

"They'll use anything. They'll put goofy stuff in, and they blow it up," Van Cleef said. "The chemicals they use are dangerous and very flammable, and they are using chemicals they don't know much about."

Hidriotic acid can dissolve flesh, and red phosphorus, if mishandled, can convert to yellow phosphorous, which ignites spontaneously. Meth makers also use flammable solvents such as ether, chloroform and Freon.

"These labs can be anywhere," Van Cleef said. "We've found them in vehicles and in big hotels on the Strip where they will rent a room under a fictitious name."

So far this year Metro has found 55 meth labs, down from 82 labs at the same time last year.

An additional danger with meth labs before they are found is the way the meth workers dispose of the leftover chemicals.

"They'll dump it anywhere," Van Cleef said. "They will dump it out in the desert or throw it in the sewer system."

When Metro finds a lab, officers are required by law to clean it up. Metro has a contract with Republic Environmental Technologies, a Republic Services of Southern Nevada company, to clean up meth labs.

"We remove all the residual chemicals," said Alan Gaddy, a vice president at Republic Services. "Many times we remove whole walls of dry wall and rip up the carpets."

The clean-up crew is specially trained in how to deal with meth labs, which are not known for having chemicals in clearly labeled containers. Republic packages up the materials and disposes of them in approved dumps, Gaddy said.

If a meth lab is found in a motel or apartment building, the Clark County Health District inspects it after the cleanup before people can stay in the building again, Gaddy said.