It’s been strangely quiet and many people are seeing fewer meth lab fires.
However, that does not mean Oklahoma is winning the war on meth.
Investigators say about one out of every ten Oklahoma teens is trying meth.
FOX23’s Abbie Alford explains meth cooks are still filling a high demand but in a new way that is not likely to cause fires.
The flames that spread though the Royal Arms Apartment complex killed two people and injured two. One of them included the accused cook who’s now charged with murder in that case.
This happened in March when Tulsa had five meth-related fires. Tulsa Police report so far this year it had never seen so many meth-related fires in one month.
Since then a few meth fires but not many and undercover drug officers say there’s a reason and it’s not because meth is going away.
In March, Nikki Cain was inside her Royal Arms Apartment begging for help.
Cain:"I can't breathe. Help me."
Dispatcher: "I know we are coming, we're coming, we're coming."
Cain: "Please God help me. I can't."
Ms. Cain survived but was badly hurt and his now in a nursing home. In another apartment a man and his wife didn’t make it out alive.
Tulsa Police say they were innocent victims of Mark Roberts. He is accused of causing the fire by making meth.
Then a few weeks later another meth explosion in another Tulsa apartment complex killed a father. His family, inlcluding children made it out.
Those cases got all the attention but more quietly the meth problem has continued to spread.
Tulsa Police and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force report 331 meth busts this year, that’s more than one a day.
What is different now is that meth cooks have come up with an explosion-proof concoction.
Drug investigators say using the shake-and-bake method, meth cooks cool the meth mixture that's in a plastic soda bottle by keeping it in an ice bath or to keep one of the main ingredients from being volatile they keep it cool.
Officials say when making arrests they often find Coleman Fuel in a meth makers refrigerator.
People may not be seeing the fires but many people are witnessing an explosion in the problem that local, state and federal authorities continue to attack with manpower and with education.
The Office of National Drug Council Policy is spending millions of dollars in anti-meth ads on TV, radio and print.
Tulsa Police report they’ve made 225 meth-related arrests and 21 children were exposed to meth in those cases.
These numbers are climbing back to the times prior to the 2004 state law which required that pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth, be strictly regulated.
If you suspect meth is going in your neighborhood call the meth hotline at (918) 592-METH (6384).
Christopher Stinson, Amber Ketcher and Bobby Warren are charged with the murder of Sean Ketcher in connection to the meth fire at the Comanche Park Apartments.
Their arraignments are scheduled for Monday.
Mark Roberts’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 1st. He’s charged with two counts of murder for the Royal Arms meth fire.
