METH SUSPECTED IN FIRE HOUSE MAY BE DRUG LAB.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

One man was found critically injured Monday at the scene of an early morning explosion and fire at a suspected methamphetamine lab on Friendly Valley Parkway in Newhall, officials said.

Santa Clarita sheriff's Deputy Mike Tunget responded to the report of a house fire at 6:45 a.m. and found the burned man outside the garage of a house at 19107 Friendly Valley Parkway.

Tunget said the victim had been burned over 50 percent of his body, including his hands, legs and back, from his neck down to his heels.

Neighbors helped douse the flames and rendered first aid before fire and paramedics arrived at the scene.

The injured man was unconscious in critical condition at Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, officials said.

Residents of the quiet neighborhood were surprised by the activity. Next-door neighbor Mark Weitz initially heard screaming and thought someone was being beaten.

``I heard some serious screaming,'' Weitz said. ``I grabbed an aluminum bat and was ready to stop a beating. When I saw the guy outside, he was burned all over and running around in what was left of his boxers; I dropped the bat and grabbed a garden hose.''

Officials said Cecile Martinez Myron, 32, was taken into custody at the scene on suspicion of manufacturing a controlled substance. Tunget said she was a friend of the burn victim.

Also taken into custody were the owners of the house, Robert and Patricia Pecone, both 52, who were held on suspicion of maintaining a location for the storage or sale of a controlled substance, officials said.

The burn victim was identified only as a white male, 32 years old and a resident of the house.

Weitz said he helped wrap the burned man in a damp blanket and used the garden hose to put out materials that had fallen on the roof of a maroon Explorer that was in the garage.

Talking to a handful of neighbors gathered in his driveway to watch the investigators work in the afternoon, Weitz said the smoke surrounding the fire was exceptionally acrid and he complained of a sore throat. He also expressed disgust at the possibility of criminal activity next door to his home.

``If this is a meth lab, I want this out of here. We don't want this kind of stuff happening in our neighborhood,'' he said. ``I feel bad for the (Pecones), but it was going on in their house.''

Members of the county Sheriff's Department's arson and explosives, narcotics, hazmat/health and crime lab divisions responded to the scene, cordoning off the area and setting up decontamination pools on the front lawn.

Animal control officers removed two pit bull terriers belonging to the Pecones that were being held in Weitz's garage; one of the animals required sedation before it could be put into the truck.

Sgt. Rich Larue of the Santa Clarita sheriff's station explained that the lengthy process of identifying and neutralizing the chemicals found in the garage and other parts of the house could take investigators into this morning.

After members of L.A. IMPACT's North Area investigative team were given the all-clear from the hazmat team, they went into the house and brought out extensive chemistry equipment, including scales, bottles, beakers and other laboratory items that were cataloged on the street in front of the house.

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Investigators handle supplies believed to be used to make methamphetamine at a home on Friendly Valley Parkway in Newhall.

(2 -- color) Sheriff's investigators look in the garage of a suspected meth lab after a fire left one man in critical condition.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer