This story was updated at 6 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday with more information about the fire and the arrest.
Two suspected THC extraction labs have caused two house fires in two days in the Morongo Basin. A suspected illegal marijuana grow and drug lab are believed to be responsible for a house fire in Yucca Valley Friday afternoon, and a 35-year-old resident was arrested. Firefighters from Yucca Valley, Yucca Mesa, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms and the Combat Center were called to the 54800 block of Navajo Trail at 2:32 p.m. Smoke was visible from miles away, and County Fire Battalion Chief Donnie Viloria said firefighters saw flames coming from windows on the north and west sides of the home when they arrived. All the occupants got out of the house safely. Yucca Valley firefighters began an aggressive attack on the exterior of the house while waiting for the back-up firefighters. According to Viloria, challenging building construction, concealed spaces, and multiple layers of roofing sheeting hampered efforts to ventilate the house. After the fire was extinguished, firefighters noted what appeared to be equipment for a drug lab inside the house. Investigators from the fire department and the Sheriff’s arson and bomb detail were called in and deputies found a THC extraction lab and an indoor marijuana grow with about 80 plants. Neighbors told Z107.7 News that they heard several popping noises before the fire started and the smell of burning marijuana was noticeable in the air. A resident, Larry Evans, was arrested for investigation of manufacturing a controlled substance. Larry Evans was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail with his bail set at $500,000. Just Wednesday another THC extraction lab caused a fire in a Morongo Valley home.
