167 GROW OPS LEFT, CHIEF SAYS

There are only 167 grow operations left to be shut down in this city.

New numbers released this week by Surrey's fire department shows the
grow op team is on pace to eliminate marijuana plantations by the
close of 2007.

At the end of June, there were an estimated 300 home grow operations
in Surrey, leaving Fire Chief Len Garis to estimate complete
eradication by the end of November.

Garis heads the city's Electrical Fire Safety Initiative (EFSI), in
which the fire department, police and fire inspectors place notices
on suspected grow operations. The owners usually flee, or shut the
operation down.

In 2003, officials estimated there were thousands of grow ops in
Surrey. Enhanced crackdowns by police and the EFSI team has reduced
them to a handful.