Illegal wiring sparks doom for pot-growing operation
Alameda County firefighters who responded to a medium-size fire at a San Lorenzo home Sunday night expected a typical scene — maybe a kitchen fire or a Christmas tree’s wiring gone awry.
They were in for a surprise.
The fire was caused by an indoor marijuana-growing operation and resulted in a fireman getting a severe electric shock. He was treated and is fine, said Battalion Chief Dan O’Hara.
“It really does hurt to be electrocuted,” O’Hara said. “No pun intended, but the whole thing was definitely a shock. It brings you right to your knees.”
The residents at 17028 Via Pasatiempo were apparently growing at least 200 marijuana plants in their garage and two bedrooms. They had an assortment of growing lights and humidifiers for the project. The system relied on an illegal, intricate wiring system, according to O’Hara.
“They were pretty sophisticated,” he said. “You wouldn’t have known that they had messed with the wiring. For the most part, they knew what they were doing.”
The suspects received standard, legal electricity from PG&E, but the majority of their utility power came from illegal lines they had gerry-rigged. The lines skipped the breaker box and therefore were undetected by the meter. This allowed the suspects to stay off PG&E‘s list of excessive users.
Source: The Daily Review.
There are currently no comments on this thread.