04/15/2008

Associated Press

Investigators think a Jefferson County woman caught fire while making methamphetamine used to make the illegal drug in her eastern Missouri basement.

The woman's name has not been released. She was flown by helicopter Monday to St. John's Mercy Medical Center, where she was in serious condition. She suffered burns to her legs and pelvis area.

Fire Marshal Bud Smith with the De Soto Rural Fire Protection District found two women driving away from the house, with the burned woman wrapped in a blanket when he arrived on scene. The second woman was arrested on suspicion that she may have supplied an ingredient used to make the meth.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that it took firefighters about a half hour to put out the basement fire.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com