Meth Lab Discovered at Sight of Two Fires in Sherman

A burning shed in Sherman led police to discover a meth lab on the site of a previous house fire.

Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says an off-duty firefighter drove past the property on the Gallison Road Sunday and saw that 45-year-old Todd Budick's clothes were on fire. He then discovered a fire inside a shed on the property. Budick was treated for burns to his hands, arms, and face and then left the scene. Fire investigators turned up evidence of the methamphetamine manufacturing operation and called in the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency's lab team to clean it up.

Two weeks ago, the house that Budick lived in on the same property burned to the ground. Fire investigators suspected that a meth lab may have played a role in the fire, but the damage was too great to be able to prove it. The making of meth is highly flammable and explosive.

This is the 23rd meth-related response by MDEA and law enforcement this year in Maine.