A blast ripped the roof off a shop near Tulsa last week. Two workers died. Now the boss is charged with murder.

Ryan Bassham, 35, owned Solos Extracts in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. Prosecutors charged him with two counts of first degree murder. That is the top murder charge in the state. He turned himself in on August 30. He posted a $2 million bond the same day.

Deaths on the job almost never turn into a murder case. Most of the time a boss pays a fine. This case is different. The state says this was not just a bad accident. It says the shop made drugs with no valid papers. It says the gear there could blow up.

The blast hit about 1 a.m. on Thursday, August 27. It happened at a work park in Sand Springs. That town sits just west of Tulsa. The Associated Press said the blast tore off part of a roof. It crumpled doors. It threw junk across the lot. News On 6 said at least 25 shops there got hit.

The two men who died were Michael Newman and Stephen Scott. Both worked for Bassham.

Newman was still alive when help got there. Court papers say he told rescue crews that another man was still inside. He said the room did not have enough air. He said he "unplugged something and the building blew up." Newman died later at a hospital. News On 6 said friends knew him as a kind dad who loved music.

Here is what a shop like this does. THC is the part of weed that gets you high. The work pulls it out of the plant. Many shops use butane or propane. Those gases catch fire fast. In a shut room with no air, one spark is enough.

Police think the blast hit while a drug batch was being cooked. Court records call it an "active marijuana manufacturing event," News On 6 said.

Prosecutors say the workers were "unlawfully manufacturing hazardous chemicals that wound up creating an explosion," the AP reported.

Weed for sick people is legal in Oklahoma. But the state still makes you get papers. Court records say Bassham had no valid state weed license. He had no valid sign off from the state drug agency either.

KJRH said his name was not even on his own shop's state papers. The court file says he made the drug against the law.

The warning signs were there months before. A fire marshal had already been inside.

Sand Springs Fire Marshal Michael Nobles checked the shop in January. He found a booth built to make weed products. He found an old fire safety system. He found personal stuff in the work area. He saw no bad chemicals that day, KJRH said.

Nobles told the crew to have a pro cut the booth loose. It was meant to stay off until he came back.

After the blast, Nobles walked the wreck. He found a big load of liquid propane. He found more gear and bad stuff that was not there in January. It showed up after his visit.

A neighbor spoke up too. The owner of a shop next door said he told Bassham about high carbon dioxide readings. A sensor in the building picked them up. The AP said the levels could make people dizzy.

Bassham is out on bond right now. He is accused, not guilty. The AP said court records list no lawyer for him.

Two families lost someone at work. The case asks a hard question. A boss keeps the plant going after a fire marshal says stop. Is that a bad break, or is that a crime?

A charge is not proof. Everyone is innocent until a court says otherwise.