MARIJUANA PLANTS AT ROOT OF CITY FIRE

Cannabis Resin Maker Starts $200,000 Blaze

It was a kitchen fire of a different sort that gutted a three-storey
rooming house on Sherbrook Street yesterday afternoon.

The fire started at 151 Sherbrook when a teenager in the residence was
attempting to make cannabis resin by boiling marijuana plants, Winnipeg
Police Duty Inspector Bob Parker said.

"We've had several of these incidents where it just doesn't go the way they
had planned," Parker said last night.

Parker said there was $200,000 damage to the building and its contents.
There were no injuries.

Neighbour Marsha Linden said she was relaxing with a cup of coffee around
4:30 p.m. when she looked out her balcony window at the Sherbrook Street
building.

"I saw smoke and then I saw a burst of flames," Linden said, adding she
called 911 immediately and then went outside to get a closer look. "It
started in the back," Linden said. "Fire was coming out the windows and the
flames were going up almost beyond the second storey."

Linden said firefighters arrived almost immediately and got the fire under
control within minutes but added it was too late.

"They're still throwing things out the windows and doors," Linden said last
night.

The residents found alternate accommodations, Parker said.

A 16-year-old will be charged with producing cannabis resin and possession
of marijuana, Parker said.