Friday blaze leads to meth arrest

PALMER — A man is in jail after a small fire on a property where authorities say he was cooking meth Friday, authorities said.

Michael E Wellman, 33, of Palmer, faces five counts of second-degree drugs misconduct and three counts of fourth-degree drugs misconduct after an incident about 12:30 p.m. Friday at a house on a residential cul-de-sac on Gurn Circle.

Wellman remained in Mat-Su Pretrial Monday morning on $10,000 bail with court-appointed third-party custodial requirements, according to court documents and Alaska State Trooper media dispatches.

Officials with the Alaska State Troopers’ Mat-Su drug enforcement unit, Western Alaska Alcohol Narcotics Taskforce, and the Special Crimes Investigation Unit responded to the scene, alongside Palmer Police officers and the state fire marshals. Inside the house they discovered “a fully functional red phosphorus methamphetamine lab,” troopers wrote.

Authorities said the fire was confined to an area outside the residence, and no one was injured. The fire was initially reported as a simple structure fire, and the meth lab was discovered after the fact, according to troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.

The Drug Enforcement Administration provided a connection with a private hazardous waste disposal company to clean up the lab, according to trooper dispatches.

Wellman purchased the house in 2009 from the Alaska Community Development Corporation, according to Alaska Department of Natural Resources property records.

The fire and confiscation is the second local methamphetamine bust this year. Troopers arrested Jordan Len Thomas Melton in January, and confiscated his car after discovering what they said was a mobile meth lab in his Subaru Legacy.

Contact Reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano