A nine-year-long battle over who will be held responsible for a house that burned down after a dab lab explosion has finally come to a close. The case pitted landlords, an insurance company, and the dab-making tenants against each other. In the end, the judge ruled that insurance companies are not responsible for dab lab fires.
A Drawn Out Legal Battle
Nine years ago, a home in Regina, Sasketchewan, Canada burned down after an explosion occurred the bathroom. Investigators later determined that the explosion happened when tenants in the home were trying to make dabs.
The evidence was pretty clear. There was a bunch of drug-manufacturing equipment in the burned bathtub. There was yellowish residue in the bathroom, a butane tank, and the site tested positive for traces of THC.
After the blaze destroyed the home, the landlords tried to collect on their $175,000 fire insurance policy. But they were surprised when the insurance company denied the claim. They ended up taking the company to court.
In court, the insurance company claimed that it wasn’t responsible to pay for the burned-down home because of a clause introduced in a policy update. That clause stated that the company would not be liable for damage caused by illegal marijuana-related activity.
The landlords countered and said they didn’t know about the clause. Further, they argued that they had no control over what their tenants did.
Finally, nine years later, Judge Richard Elson sided with the insurance company. He said that the company is not responsible for the lab fires. Instead, he is requiring the tenants to pay the landlords for all damages.
According to local news sources, the former tenants will now have to pay the landlords $171,795 for the house. They will also be required to pay $7,200 in demolition fees, as well as the equivalent of 13 months’ worth of rent to make up for lost rental income.
Insurance Company Is Not Responsible For Dab Lab Fires
It’s fairly common for DIY dab labs like this one to explode. Fires and explosions are especially common when people are making butane hash oil, or BHO.
BHO is one of the most common forms of homemade dabs, primarily because they’re easy to make. But since the process involves soaking cannabis in butane, it can quickly become volatile.
Butane is highly flammable and if anything goes wrong in the BHO production process, the entire lab can quickly go up in flames. That’s exactly what happened to the Regina home.
