HOME, POT GARDEN GO UP IN FLAMES

Man, Woman Arrested, Kids Taken Into Care

The ever-flourishing indoor marijuana gardens in Waterloo Region led to a
fire at a Kitchener house yesterday morning.

A Vietnamese man and a woman escaped with three children from the
flame-filled home on Westheights Drive near Highland Road at about 7:30 a.m.

The family of five, who were in their pajamas, went to a nearby house.

Minutes later they were handcuffed and hauled into the back of a cruiser.
They were to appear in a Kitchener courtroom this morning.

The children were put into the care of Family and Children's Services.

Staff Sgt. Ray Massicotte of the Waterloo regional police drug squad said
the number of pot-growing homes in the area is skyrocketing.

Just two weeks ago, police busted a house in the same neighbourhood on
Westforest Trail.

"Any place in Waterloo Region, you can walk from your house and in five
minutes you will find one (marijuana-grow)," he said.

Yesterday is the second similar fire involving a home-grow operation in the
region. In December 2000, a house on Scott Road in Cambridge -- across from
Silverheights Public School in Hespeler -- was gutted.

Fire Chief Tim Bernier said when firefighters arrived at the Westheights
Drive home, "the house was fully involved."

David Roth, who lives next to the burning house, said his wife, Karen,
looked out the bathroom window and saw heavy smoke coming from the
neighbour's chimney.

"I ran out of the house and looked over," he said. "The smoke was really
thick and you couldn't see a foot in front."

Roth said the Vietnamese couple spoke little English and moved into the
rented home last summer.

"We hardly ever saw them," said Roth, who wasn't even aware that the couple
had young children. "They would wave and say good morning."

When firefighters arrived at the house, there was a faint smell of marijuana.

Bernier said none of the firefighters was allowed into the basement until
Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro workers turned the power off.

"Firefighters could get electrocuted. There are wires hanging from the
ceiling," he said.

Bernier said the fire likely started because of an altered hydro hookup.

A common feature in indoor pot-growing operations in the region is the way
the growers bypass hydro -- some with crude wiring using plumbing clamps.

Massicotte said yesterday's marijuana grow is a blueprint of earlier busts.

To date, police have raided 60 homes in the region, all running
sophisticated indoor marijuana-growing operations.

Most of the homes are sparsely furnished and people rarely live in them.

The homes are often in middle-class residential neighbourhoods with schools
nearby.

Massicotte said police have been working with firefighters, telling them
about the possible dangers when they go into a burning house growing dope.

"Some of these houses use 10 times the amount of hydro that a normal house
would use," he said.

Massicotte said people operating the grows are part of an organized crime cell.

"This isn't someone growing a little bit of dope because he has a bad back.
These are organized criminals growing dope for profit," he said.

Police hope those busted will get jail time. However, to date those before
the court have received conditional sentences.

Police say they are frustrated and federal drug prosecutor Pat Flynn says
he shares police concerns.