GROW-OP HYDRO BYPASS SPARKS UP POT CROP

An early morning fire Saturday led to the discovery of a large
marijuana grow operation in Aldergrove's north County Line
neighbourhood.

Township assistant fire chief Len Foss said that the alarm was turned
in by a passerby about 3:20 a.m., Dec. 11, resulting in some 40
firefighters from Halls 3 and 7 working until about 9 a.m. to
extinguish it.

The fire destroyed the former Aldergrove Freezer Meats building at
6234 - 264 St., causing an estimated $100,000 damage. The butcher shop
had closed several years ago and the owners had sold the property
about two years ago.

Foss said firefighters' efforts were hampered by an illegal hydro
bypass that wasn't shut down until BC Hydro crews arrived on the
scene. "Electricity was feeding in from two directions and we were
unable to enter the building to put out the fire," said Foss.

"The north side of the building was on fire. It had started in the
storage-electrical area and we couldn't shut it down."

RCMP Cpl. Dale Carr said that police, acting on information from
firefighters at the scene, executed two search warrants that morning,
netting almost 1,700 marijuana plants from the outbuilding and
residence on the property.

"There were also a considerable number of plants that were damaged by
the fire beyond any worth; there was no point in seizing them," said
Carr.

"It was an address we were aware of (as a marijuana grow-op)... there
was an ongoing investigation to try to establish enough grounds. Once
the fire department gave us the information we got the search warrants
for both buildings.

"We seized about 1,000 plants from the (former) butcher shop and
another 600 from the residence, which was not damaged by the fire."

Foss and Carr said the home occupants were not found on the grounds,
however, Carr said investigation continues and "we hope to lay charges."

Carr noted that the Township's property maintenance bylaw will seek
cost recovery from the property title holder.

"It will be an expensive bill. The RCMP investigation cost usually is
about $2,500, but the fire department can go for cost recovery too.
Once you add up 40 firefighters and resources it could be a pretty
substantial bill to the homeowner.

"And so they should be paying... why should the community's
law-abiding citizens pay to have this dismantled?"

Carr also noted that "the hydro bypass on the ground shows once again
how dangerous these grow-ops can be. In this case it was a rural
property but in cases of close density there is potential for
catastrophe when quasi-electricians try to bypass and overload the
output for the residence."

Carr noted that recently in West Abbotsford, a grow-op's hydro bypass
caused a half-day blackout for the residential community adjacent to
Aldergrove, even though it didn't cause a fire in this case.