MAYOR VOWS GROW-OP CRACKDOWN

An early Sunday morning fire in a vacant two-storey home on Seacrest Road
caused nearly a quarter-million dollars damage and also revealed some
surprising contents: a marijuana grow operation.

The discovery came less than 48 hours before Richmond Mayor Greg
Halsey-Brandt and Richmond RCMP Superintendent Ernie MacAulay announced a
co-ordinated action plan to tackle the problem of illegal marijuana grow
operations in the city.

"The statistics provided by the RCMP indicate a rapid escalation of illegal
grow operations in our city," Halsey-Brandt said in a press release.

"It is essential that the property owners and their renters, real estate
agents and property managers are provided with up-to-date information about
the dangers associated with illegal grow operations, such as fire hazards
and public safety issues, and the damage inflicted on their properties,"
Halsey-Brandt said in the release.

Although police weren't releasing statistics, RCMP Staff Sgt. Keith
Hildebrand said the number of arrests, search warrants executed and
marijuana plants seized are all "up significantly" from previous years.

He said he was gathering the exact numbers for MacAulay, who will be
releasing them this morning (Wednesday).

Richmond Fire-Rescue's Gordon Gill told The Review that a passer-by who had
just dropped off a friend around 2:20 a.m. noticed the distinct smell of
smoke in the neighbourhood near No. 5 Road and Steveston Highway and drove
around the well-kept neighbourhood searching for the source.

When he noticed smoke pouring out of the back of the house at 11340
Seacrest Rd., he called 9-1-1 and apparently began knocking at the front
door to alert anyone who may have been inside.

When fire crews arrived, they stumbled upon a marijuana grow operation
inside the home, which from the outside was well maintained and not
remarkably different from any of the other houses in the area.

Fire-Rescue's Gill said that fire crews discovered about 100 marijuana
plants in addition to another 100 that had already been harvested.

The fire was caused by a short circuit in the wiring leading to one of the
high intensity lamps that are used to help the plants grow.

The house was so tightly sealed that the fire continued to smoulder for two
or three hours, consuming all of the oxygen inside and creating extremely
high temperatures that turned the contents of a refrigerator to charcoal.
The home's contents were burning, but there were no visible flames due to a
lack of oxygen. A kitchen stove on the second storey also fell through the
floor.

Fire crews had to cut a hole in the house's roof to ventilate the smoke.

Gill said the house is likely a write-off, sustaining about $227,000 damage.

It was sparsely furnished and there was no indication anyone was living
there at the time of the blaze. There were no injuries.

Gill said he was surprised that nobody in the neighbourhood reported the
house as a possible grow-operation.

The growing of marijuana gives off a distinct odour, smelling almost skunky.

One neighbour told The Review that she always wondered why the curtains
were always closed.

The city will be hosting an information forum for landlords in the future.
Details on that forum will be released today (Wednesday).