Full Notification

Valdez, AK – City of Valdez Fire and Police Departments responded Wednesday to an explosion in the Aleutian Village Trailer Court.

At approximately 8:30pm Wednesday, City Fire and Police Dispatch received a report of an explosion and smoke coming from a trailer home at Lot 34 of Aleutian Village.

City emergency personnel responded immediately and found no active fire upon arrival. Firefighters observed flash damage to the home’s bathroom as well as heat damage underneath the trailer. Debris from the bathroom’s window was also found in an adjacent vacant lot. Fire Department personnel secured the home’s propane tank as a safety precaution.

No injuries or damage to neighboring properties were reported.

Upon investigation, Police Department officers found the trailer home’s resident, 55 year old Richard Ayotte, had been utilizing liquid butane fuel as a solvent to extract active components from dried marijuana in the form of hash oil. This extraction process is legal under current Alaska state law.

During the process, Mr. Ayotte utilized a hot water bath to evaporate the butane fuel from the mixture. Butane vapor is flammable and highly explosive in a confined space and appeared to have ignited causing the explosion.

Nineteen mature marijuana plants were also found in Mr. Ayotte’s residence. The Palmer District Attorney directed police seize the plants and retain them at the Police Department until further notice. No arrests have been made in the case as of Friday morning.

Posted May 29, 2015

Allie Hendrickson,

Public Information Officer

City of Valdez

(907) 200-7002