Meth Lab Explosion Severely Burns Bartlesville Man

NewsOn6.com

BARTLESVILLE, OK -- Bartlesville police and fire investigators are looking for evidence Thursday after a meth lab exploded overnight. 

It happened at the Rolling Hills Apartment complex at the corner of Barlow and Nowata Road. 

Witnesses told Bartlesville Police they saw a severely burned man run from the apartment complex shortly after the explosion. 

Police searched the area and say they spotted him twice, once near a church and once at a nursery business, and a Washington County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit located the man under a nearby truck.

They say he was clinging to the truck's drive shaft, lifting himself off the ground. 

The man was transported to a Bartlesville hospital and then transported a Tulsa hospital's burn unit with severe burns. 

Bartlesville police say a woman and two children, ages 2 and 3, were also in the apartment, but were not harmed. 

The children are now in the custody of DHS. 

Police Chief Tom Holland tells The News On 6 he is confident this was a working meth lab. 

Although he isn't releasing the suspect's name at this time, he says it is a man they are familiar with. 

Holland says if the man recovers from his injuries he will be arrested.