Thousand Oaks explosion inside vehicle injures 3

Hazardous material and law enforcement officials responded to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center and two Thousand Oaks neighborhoods Wednesday after three people apparently were injured from an explosion inside a vehicle, authorities said.

Numerous emergency personnel responded about 2:45 p.m. to the hospital and residences on Marian Avenue and Avenida de la Plata.

Two people hurt in the possible chemical reaction or explosion drove themselves to the hospital and stopped in an ambulance bay outside the emergency room, authorities said. Another person was treated at the Marian Avenue house and taken to the hospital.

Authorities did not release the names of those involved Wednesday night.

The apparent explosion occurred near Hillcrest Drive and Avenida de la Plata in Thousand Oaks, sheriff's officials said. Some type of explosive device went off inside a vehicle, and the front passenger was seriously injured, said sheriff's Sgt. Barbara Payton.

It was unclear how the device or chemicals got into the vehicle, she said.

Law enforcement officials were trying to determine exactly what happened, said sheriff's Capt. Ross Bonfiglio. Someone in the vehicle initially told authorities that someone threw a bottle into the vehicle and it exploded, Bonfiglio said.

After the explosion, the driver went to Los Robles and then to the family friend's residence on Marian, Payton said. Hazardous materials crews checked the residences on Marian and Avenida de la Plata and found no danger at either address, said Steve Swindle, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesman.

The seriously injured man was 18 years old, Payton said. The other people in the vehicle were 17, a boy and a girl. Their names were not released.

The 18-year-old was expected to have surgery to remove some type of material from under his arm, Payton said. The juvenile male had what appeared to be minor injuries, she \said.

Swindle said initial reports that the incident possibly involved a drug lab were erroneous.