Home drug lab suspected in San Francisco explosion that killed one, injured two

(SAN FRANCISCO) — An explosion and fire in a San Francisco residential neighborhood that killed a disabled woman and injured her caregiver and a firefighter was allegedly caused by a clandestine drug lab, according to police.

The blast on Thursday that leveled one home and damaged two others in the city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood led to the arrest of 53-year-old Dorron Price, owner of the home that blew up and whose wife was killed in the incident, the San Francisco Police Department announced Saturday.

Price was arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, manufacturing drugs and reckless arson with great bodily injury, police said. He was being held without bail Sunday in the San Francisco County Jail, according to online jail records.

Price was booked at the jail Friday night after authorities found evidence of the home lab used to manufacture Phencyclidine, a drug also known as PCP or “angel dust,” according to police.

At the time of the blast, Price’s wife and her 65-year-old caregiver were inside the house, according to police. The caregiver, who suffered major injuries, was in the basement doing laundry when the explosion erupted, according to a statement she gave police that was obtained by ABC San Francisco station KGO-TV.

The caregiver, whose name was not released, managed to dig her way out of the rubble. She told police Price and his wife have two children, who were at school at the time of the explosion.

It was not clear where Price was at the time of the blast.

The explosion produced a three-alarm fire that damaged two neighboring homes and displaced five families, according to the San Francisco Fire Department. One firefighter was injured fighting the fire, authorities said.

Once the fire was extinguished, a K-9 search team found the body of Price’s deceased wife, according to the fire department.

More than 100 firefighters fought the blaze, the department said.

“We are aware of the numerous calls and reports of an explosion and houses shaking in the area,” said San Francisco Fire Capt. Jonathan Baxter.

The cause of the explosion and fire left some residents in the neighborhood shocked and angry.

“It’s a quiet neighborhood. People are nice. And in the middle of the street, you have this guy who is doing something illegally,” neighbor Karen Lei, whose home was damaged in the explosion, told KGO-TV.

Lei applauded the arrest of Price, saying, “That’s the right thing to do, because he’s very destructive — causing property damages and disrupting people’s lives.”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.