SPARKS FROM POT GROW-OP THREATEN WOODBINE HOMES

All the signs were there; the unkempt yard, the blinds always closed,
people who lived there that no one ever saw. The van parked close to the
house, the big dog in the backyard.

The signs were all there.

But still, you just don't want to believe that you're living within
spitting distance of a marijuana growing operation.

It's a cozy little community on Woodbine Crescent in Abbotsford. And Friday
evening was like any other. Dads out mowing the grass, little girls drawing
pictures with coloured chalk on their driveway, boys zooming up and down
the street on scooters and skateboards, teens walking back from the corner
store, couples walking the dog. It was Beaver Cleaver land for sure, until
just after suppertime when the storm broke and sparks started to fly -
literally.

I was sitting in my living room watching the news when I saw what looked
like sparklers out of the corner of my eye. My first thought was, 'Oh,
those kids shouldn't be playing with fireworks yet.' But when I got up to
take a closer look, I saw that the sparks weren't from the kids but were
coming from the hydro line attached to the neighbour's house, and within
seconds the eave of the house was burning.

I grabbed the phone and called 9-1-1 first, then, still wearing my
slippers, grabbed my camera and headed outside.

Kids were still playing in the street when the entire power line started to
smoke and melt as the fire traveled down the line to the pole in my front
yard. Then with a few final sparks, it broke off the house and fell,
crackling across the street. As folks gathered to take a closer look,
firefighters arrived, followed closely by a hydro truck and the police.

Rain had put out the small fire on the house, but it continued to smoulder
within inches of tree limbs that rested on the roof of the rancher.

Making sure the fire hadn't traveled inside the roof, firefighters punched
holes in the carport ceiling and pried open the side door to check inside.
That's when they found it --- the giant makeshift electrical panel, just
off the kitchen, with enough wires and voltage to light up a stadium.

The modest little rancher had been a family home for over 20 years before
the couple sold it last spring and moved on. They had raised their children
there, and until a couple years ago, ran a daycare, where youngsters ran
and played throughout the house and in the basement. Now that basement
houses other youngsters, juveniles really, hundreds of seedling pot plants
that reach and stretch towards the warmth of the massive grow lights
dangling from the ceiling.

Abbotsford police said it's a sizable operation, with about 600 plants
including mature ones ready for harvest and seedlings in the early stages
of growth.

Throughout the night neighbours walked by to take a look and later gather
under umbrellas to watch as the Abbotsford Police Drug Squad arrived to
dismantle the operation and haul away the plants.

"People say growing marijuana is not dangerous," said Abbotsford Police
Const. Shinder Kirk. "It is very dangerous and has the potential to impact
on people who are not involved."

That impact could have had disastrous consequences if the power surge and
fire had happened a month earlier, when the trees and surrounding area were
tinder dry from a near record heat wave. With branches from a neighbour's
tree hanging within inches of where the power meets the house, the giant
cedar would have gone up like a match stick, catching the neighbour's roof
and other trees in the old growth neighbourhood on fire.

Back on the street, people gathered late that night to discuss their
strategy to keep their neighbourhood safe. Many said they know of other
grow houses around town and were advising their new friends on what to
watch for.

"No neighourhood is immune to having a grow op in it," said Kirk.
"Regardless of where you live."