A man hospitalized in an explosion at his condominium in Sylvan Thursday was "cooking" hashish, a marijuana derivative, Washington County authorities said.



Nicholas Broms, 22, was taken to the Oregon Burn Center at Legacy Emanuel Hospital where he was in stable condition early Friday, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. He suffered burns to his upper torso and face, officials with Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue said.

Broms was alone in the condo, located at 7540 S.W. Barnes Road, and no one else was injured. Residents of three neighboring units were evacuated.



Richard Carlson, who lives in the next-door condo, said he was watching television when the explosion rocked his condo.

“All of a sudden I heard this extremely loud explosion,” Carlson said. “It rattled my apartment, knocked on a picture off of the wall.”

Carlson went to his patio and saw a red glow in Broms' unit. Carlson grabbed a few things and ran out. One man dashed up and asked for a fire extinguisher. Carlson got his and handed it over. He said another man was putting out the fire in the unit.

"He went in there three times with three different extinguishers," Carlson said.

Carlson had never seen the man before. Tualatin Valley Fire officials identified him as Taylor Brown, one of the residents in the Sylvan Heights Condominiums.

"That guy was a hero," Carlson said about Brown. "He obviously knew what he was doing."

Carlson believes that Broms was renting the unit. He said he moved in a few months ago.

Investigators stayed all night combing through the studio condo, Carlson said. The unit was in shambles, with the back wall and windows blown out, the sheriff's office said. Furniture and other items were strewn over a 50 foot area behind the condo.

Sheriff's officials said they believed the explosion was set off by volatile chemicals used in preparing hashish, a process that increases the potency of marijuana. The National Library of Medicine

hashish is taken from the tops of female marijuana plants and contains the highest amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient.

The sheriff's office said Broms was "cooking" the drug on his stove and that he held a Oregon medical marijuana card.

The Washington County Clandestine Lab Enforcement Team was sent to check for chemical hazards.

"Although it was legal for Mr. Broms to possess marijuana, it is illegal to change the drug's composition or use it in such a way that places himself or anyone else in danger," the sheriff's office said in a news release.

This case is still under investigation and there may be criminal charges filed in the future, the release said.

-- The Oregonian