COPS CAN'T KEEP UP WITH TIPS

Police Receive So Many Tips About Marijuana Grow-Ops That They Can't Bust
Them All

A relatively small grow-op was found on a rural June Springs Road property
that was the scene of a fatal mobile home fire early Monday

Following the fire, RCMP took down the grow-op in a sheet-metal Quonset hut
a few steps from the home. They seized 54 potted plants (12-14 inches high)
and 270 clones. RCMP Cpl. Reg Burgess said police don't have the resources
to investigate all the tips they get about grow-ops

"The supply of tips is non-stop," he said. "It's so steady we can't keep up
with all of them." Burgess said two .22 rifles and a sawed-off shotgun were
also seized on the property

"Once you saw off a shotgun, it's a prohibited weapon," said Burgess.
Weapons and marijuana charges are expected. RCMP say the grow-op had
nothing to do with the fire, which started in the kitchen of the mobile.
The woman's body was found in the bathtub

Police raided the same property in 2003 and found a large grow-op in two
underground bunkers and adjacent buildings. They also seized some cocaine.
Four people were arrested

Burgess said police approached the scene after the fire armed with shotguns.

The shotgun policy resulted from a shootout at a grow op in Mayerthorpe,
Alta., earlier this year that claimed the lives of four Mounties.

Assistant Kelowna fire Chief Lou Wilde said the mobile was completely
engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, and they couldn't enter.

He said they didn't know at the time the mobile was on the same property as
a grow-op. Firefighters are no longer required to enter a known grow-op if
no one's life is in danger.

Firefighters have been injured entering grow-ops, which often have faulty
bypass wiring. That poses a threat of electrocution because of the water
that's poured into the building.

Wilde said firefighters usually don't know if they are approaching a grow-op.

"We have no prior knowledge, although I wish we did," said Wilde. "If we
find it's a grow-op and no life is in danger, we won't take the risk of
going in. There is no point in putting the lives of firefighters in danger
if it's only property damage."

Wilde said the cause of the June Springs fire will probably never be
determined.

"There was so much destruction, it's hard to figure out what caused it,"
said Wilde. "For that reason, we also don't know if there was a smoke alarm
or, if there was, whether it was working."

Wilde said he didn't know if the woman was having a bath when the fire
broke out or if she went to the tub in an attempt to avoid the flames. The
bathroom did not have a window through which she might have escaped.

The woman's common-law husband discovered the fire when he arrived home
about 2 a.m.

A spokesman for the coroner's office said the woman's body was so badly
burned, it is taking some time to make a positive identification. Her name
will not be released until that is done.

An autopsy will be performed in Penticton today.