Three Cops Diagnosed With Chemically-Induced Pneumonia, Heart Murmurs In Home-Based Meth Lab Bust Gone Bad

In Butler, Missouri, KCTV Channel 5 recently reported on a meth lab bust that went bad one night back in November. An excerpt from the story:

• Police said that in a desperate attempt to get rid of the chemicals from the meth lab, [the suspect] started throwing everything into the sump pump and turned on the water. "The chemicals mixed with the water and created a vapor," said [Butler Police Chief Jim] Garnett. "Sulfuric acid, anhydrous ammonia and Coleman fuel." [One officer] was stuck in the basement, breathing in the poisonous vapor. Upstairs, [another cop] had just broken through the front door and was breathing heavily when the fog overcame him. And at the back door was [a third cop], who said "your throat gets very irritated. Then the not being able to breathe and all that stuff -- that was the scariest part of it all."

All three were diagnosed with chemically-induced pneumonia and heart murmurs. One spent several days in the hospital and was out of work for two months. The other two were there for more than a week. Of the two, one returned to work two weeks ago; the other is out indefinitely. For a 10-man department, that one night sidelined almost a third of the Butler police department.

For more, see Special Report: Are Police Prepared To Deal With Meth?

Check the the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) National Clandestine Laboratory Register for (what the DEA admits is) an incomplete and infrequently updated list of possible locations of former neighborhood meth labs that have been reported to the DEA by local and Federal law enforcement authorities.

Go here for some methamphetamine information resources.

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