SURREY PILOT PROJECT GOES AFTER POWER IN GROW-OP HOUSES

Surrey politicians, police and firefighters are teaming up to pull the plug
on grow ops.

Solicitor-General Rich Coleman unveiled a pilot project last week that will
allow authorities to cut power to houses with marijuana-growing operations.

"Grow ops are increasing in size and sophistication right across B.C.,"
Coleman said. "We need to tackle this problem from every angle to ensure
that police and other authorities have the tools they need to protect the
public. This will send a message to criminals that grow ops will not be
tolerated and we'll find all kinds of ways to shut them down."

Under the project, a team of firefighters, police and electrical inspectors
will investigate homes with unusually high electrical power consumption.

If the residence is found to be a hazard, or an inspection is not permitted
within a reasonable time, power will be shut down. A permit and an
inspection by the Surrey electrical inspector would then be required before
power is restored.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis is the driving force behind the new initiative.

The project - which could be expanded to other cities if it is successful -
was also developed with input from the City of Surrey, the RCMP, BC Hydro
and the ministries of the Solicitor General and Community, Aboriginal and
Women's Services, which oversees the Safety Standards Act.

Garis said the goal of the project is to protect firefighters and citizens
from the dangerous fires caused by grow ops.

Garis said statistics show that a house with a marijuana-growing operation
sustains twice as much damage as a house without one during a fire. As
well, a house with a grow-op is 25 times more likely to go up in flames.

"With all due respect to law enforcement agencies, the system has just
become so complex and complicated for them," he said.

"The incidents are growing significantly every year, and it's pretty
obvious the system is failing itself.

"We're hoping that this will become a tool that will basically make it
extremely difficult, if not impossible, for these types of unsafe
installations to occur in a residential setting."

Garis said the program will be evaluated in 90 days and, depending on the
results, may be expanded to other cities.

Coquitlam Fire Chief Gord Buchanan called the program a proactive step in
the right direction.

"The jury's out until we see what the results of that project come out at,
but from what I'm seeing up front, it looks like a pretty good system," he
said.

The local RCMP are also watching to see how the program fares.

"Quite often when somebody tries something it would be common for us to
definitely keep an eye on it to see what works and how we can improve our
service," said Cpl. Jane Baptista.

When asked if they thought setting up a similar program to deal with grow
ops in the Tri-Cities would make a difference, both Buchanan and Baptista
replied, "Absolutely."