Mobile, Alabama Man Critically Burned in Suspected Meth Lab Blast

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A severly burned man taken to a hospital by a teen-ager driving by was in critical condition Tuesday after suffering the burns in a house fire that investigators suspect began in a methamphetamine lab explosion.

Sheriff's officers said Kenneth Johnson, 39, stumbled out of a west Mobile County house scraming for help as a Baker High School football player, 18-year-old Kyle Rogers, drove by Monday around 7:30 a.m.

``He said, 'Oh my God, help me, please help me,''' Rogers said in a telephone interview with the Mobile Register later Monday. ``He was very badly burned. He was conscious but in so much pain.''

Rogers drove Johnson to Providence Hospital. He later was transferred to the University of South Alabama Medical Center burn unit.

Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Christina Bowersox said after the fire was put out deputies seized a small quantity of meth and marijuana from the residence. She said Jackie Lane Hawkins, 38, was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and was released from Mobile County Metro Jail on a $3,500 bond.