FruityBud
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A faulty wiring job sparked a fire, exposing an indoor marijuana crop at a Castroville house early Sunday.
Authorities said about 800 marijuana plants were growing in the three bedroom house at 10820 Davis St. where the windows were boarded up and wires were apparently rigged to bypass the electricity meter to power lights and other equipment inside without raising suspicion.
"It's not your routine type of call," said North County Fire Lt. Jess Mendoza.
Mendoza and a crew were dispatched to the house about 2:30a.m. after a neighbor reported sparks shooting from the home's exterior electrical panel.
"As soon as we walked up to it, it arced and shot flames," Mendoza said.
Concerned the entire house could catch fire, and thinking someone might be inside, the firefighters knocked on the front door.
When no one came out, they broke down the door and took a look inside.
"We were shocked," Mendoza said Monday. "There wasn't anyone inside but there were 70 to 80 marijuana plants in each bedroom and there were three bedrooms."
The firefighters alerted Sheriff's deputies, who confiscated the equipment and plants.
Deputies said the plants could have produced up to $3.2 million of pot.
Mendoza said it appeared that whoever was growing the marijuana was preparing to put more plants in the garage. A wall had been built behind the garage roll-up door and firefighters had to cut through it to get inside.
Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said that while most marijuana crops in Monterey County are in outdoor gardens, indoor gardens are not uncommon.
"We come across an indoor grow once in a while," he said.
Deputies have made no arrests in Sunday's bust, but they are searching for a man who was renting the house where the marijuana was growing.
Richards said the man identified himself as Tomas Rios Soto to the property owner.
"We don't know if that's his real name," he said.
Indoor growers usually steal electricity so the power company won't alert police when they notice someone is using lots of power, Richards said.
"When you grow marijuana indoors, you are drawing a lot of power," he said. "Apparently, his wiring job wasn't that great. It probably just got so hot it caught fire."
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Authorities said about 800 marijuana plants were growing in the three bedroom house at 10820 Davis St. where the windows were boarded up and wires were apparently rigged to bypass the electricity meter to power lights and other equipment inside without raising suspicion.
"It's not your routine type of call," said North County Fire Lt. Jess Mendoza.
Mendoza and a crew were dispatched to the house about 2:30a.m. after a neighbor reported sparks shooting from the home's exterior electrical panel.
"As soon as we walked up to it, it arced and shot flames," Mendoza said.
Concerned the entire house could catch fire, and thinking someone might be inside, the firefighters knocked on the front door.
When no one came out, they broke down the door and took a look inside.
"We were shocked," Mendoza said Monday. "There wasn't anyone inside but there were 70 to 80 marijuana plants in each bedroom and there were three bedrooms."
The firefighters alerted Sheriff's deputies, who confiscated the equipment and plants.
Deputies said the plants could have produced up to $3.2 million of pot.
Mendoza said it appeared that whoever was growing the marijuana was preparing to put more plants in the garage. A wall had been built behind the garage roll-up door and firefighters had to cut through it to get inside.
Sheriff's Cmdr. Mike Richards said that while most marijuana crops in Monterey County are in outdoor gardens, indoor gardens are not uncommon.
"We come across an indoor grow once in a while," he said.
Deputies have made no arrests in Sunday's bust, but they are searching for a man who was renting the house where the marijuana was growing.
Richards said the man identified himself as Tomas Rios Soto to the property owner.
"We don't know if that's his real name," he said.
Indoor growers usually steal electricity so the power company won't alert police when they notice someone is using lots of power, Richards said.
"When you grow marijuana indoors, you are drawing a lot of power," he said. "Apparently, his wiring job wasn't that great. It probably just got so hot it caught fire."
hxxp://shuurl.com/I4699
