Suspects Sought After Police Find Drug Equipment After House Fire

Authorities in Massachusetts are looking for two men accused of starting a house fire while they were manufacturing MDMA, commonly known as Ecstacy.

North Reading police say they will charge Lowell Navarro, 26, and Jacob Stanish, 31, both North Reading residents, with unlawful manufacturing of a Class B controlled substance and conspiracy to violate drug laws.

Firefighters and police officers responded to the fire at 6 Travelled Way on Feb. 7, when officers at the scene noticed a strange odor and thick, black smoke coming from the house, which police say isn't normal in a typical house fire.

Officers quickly called in haz-mat and a specialized DEA team to the scene, and after the fire was put out, investigators found a hidden room with drug manufacturing equipment, according to police.

"This was an extremely dangerous situation, in which a drug lab was operating in a residential neighborhood with houses stacked closely to one another," North Reading Police Chief Michael Murphy said in a statement.

No one was injured in the fire, and the cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Anyone with information on Navarro's or Stanish's whereabouts is asked to call police.

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