Edmonds house fire started by hash oil cook, investigators say

Published 5:43 pm Thursday, September 24, 2015

EDMONDS — A house fire in unincorporated Edmonds on Wednesday was started by a man trying to cook hash oil, investigators confirmed Thursday.

The fire was reported shortly after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 8100 block of 226th Street SW, said Leslie Hynes, a spokeswoman with Snohomish County Fire District 1. The man escaped, and there were no injuries and no major structural damage, Hynes said. Damage to the contents of the house was estimated at $15,000.

The man was using a camp stove for the project, Hynes said. Hash oil, a derivative of the marijuana plant, is illegal and dangerous to manufacture. People making it have been blamed for explosions that caused injuries in Bellevue and Yakima in recent years.