RCMP said they believe a deadly explosion that destroyed a Langley Township home and damaged five others on Friday, was sparked by an illegal drug extraction lab.
A body, identified by neighbours as a woman, was located inside the debris of the home Sunday while two other occupants survived.
Two decades ago, two people with the same names as the owners of the exploding house were convicted in connection with a grow op at a Burnaby home, Global News has learned.
Surveillance video from a residence across from the home at 7340 196 Street captured the thunderous blast which jolted the Willowbrook neighbourhood around 10:40 a.m. Friday.
“It is surreal,” said neighbour Mark Mullens. “It looked like a movie, it didn’t look real.”
Mullens ran to help and after hearing more popping sounds followed by other noises, he saw two men emerge from the home.
“These two gentlemen kind of crawled out of the rubble and you know, wearing aprons, their clothes were all tattered and ripped and stuff and their hair was all singed, the skin was all, you know, burnt.”
Several neighbours who did not want to be identified by name told Global News the victim who did not survive was the wife of one of the men who escaped the home, and the mother of the other man.
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Property records list the owners of the home as Thi Ngoan Lam and Hung Manh Tran.
Court records show a man born in 1975 with the same name as Hung Manh Tran was charged with production of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and fraudulent consumption of electricity in connection with a July 31, 2002 incident in Burnaby.
The latter charge was discharged at a preliminary inquiry while Tran was ordered to stand trial in BC Supreme Court on the two drug charges.
RCMP executed a search warrant on July 31, 2002 at the Burnaby rental home where Tran lived with his wife and two children, according to a 2005 BC Court of Appeal ruling.
Mounties discovered a marijuana grow operation with 435 plants in the crawlspace beneath the floor and the hatch to the crawlspace was hidden under a children’s play mat, the documents stated.
A Hydro by-pass supplied the energy for the grow op.
“There was water on the ground near the plants and the electricity,” stated Honourable Madam Justice Ryan in her written reasons. “The probability of fire was great.”
After the operation was dismantled, the landlord had to pay approximately $30,000 for repairs, according to the ruling.
In 2004, Tran was convicted of production of a controlled substance and possessing a controlled drug for the purpose of trafficking and sentenced to 12 months in jail followed by 12 months probation.
“I am concerned that there is a danger of re-offending if Mr. Tran is not meted out a harsh punishment at this stage,” the trial judge said according to the appeal court ruling. “I recognize that he is the breadwinner for this family, but for the sake of deterrence and denunciation he must be incarcerated.”
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Tran was also ordered to pay $1,881.62 in restitution to BC Hydro.
As “a first offender with two children at home”, Tran’s wife, identified as ‘Ms. Lam’ in Justice Ryan’s reasons, was sentenced to 12 months to be served in the community.
Tran appealed his sentence but the Appeal Court ruled his term of imprisonment was fit, stating the landlord and community suffered.
“The grow operation was set up in a way that made it dangerous not only to Mr. Tran’s family, but to the neighbourhood. Electricity was stolen to operate the business. The landlord has suffered significant expense to return the home to habitability,” stated Justice Ryan in her written reasons.
When asked Monday if the homeowners had criminal records for drug production, Langley RCMP said they couldn’t speak to that.
Meantime, numerous compressed gas tanks could be seen piled up outside Tran’s levelled home.
Neighbours who spoke to Global News on the condition of anonymity said officials have told them the blast involved butane hash oil (BHO), and could have been much worse had more butane tanks ignited.
“If no one in the neighbourhood has noticed this activity going on, they obviously were hiding it very well,” Langley Township mayor Eric Woodward said Monday.
Woodward told Global News it is concerning that individuals apparently decided to conduct this type of activity in a basement suite in a relatively dense neighbourhood.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” Woodward told Global News.
RCMP said they are conducting a thorough investigation including expert analysis, and it may take time to definitively conclude what caused the deadly blast.
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