By FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is looking for the operator of a mobile meth lab involved in a crash that closed a highway for several hours Saturday.

About 4:45 a.m. Saturday, the Portsmouth Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol received a call concerning a one-vehicle crash on southbound Ohio 73 just south of the Otway corporation line.

Portsmouth Post Commander Lt. Karla Taulbee said when troopers arrived on the scene they found an abandoned 1997 red Chevrolet Blazer on its left side. She said there was evidence of a mobile meth lab in the vehicle with strong fumes escaping from a cylinder in the passenger compartment.

Union, Morgan and Otway fire departments responded to the scene, and due to the hazardous situation, Ohio 73 was closed. The Ohio Department of Transportation was called out to assist with the road closure.

Agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London, Ohio, who are trained in defusing meth labs, responded to the scene. Ohio 73 was re-opened to traffic about 2 p.m. Saturday. The case remains under investigation.

FRANK LEWIS may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or flewis@heartlandpublications.com.