Medical marijuana grow-ops: they may be legal, but that doesn’t make them safe

Residents of a Surrey neighbourhood have learned the hard way that just because a marijuana grow-op is licensed, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s operating safely.

It took two deaths to hit that message home after a fire started up at a house on 163rd Street on Monday morning.

Coverage of grow-ops on Globalnews.ca:

1:23 Grow-ops and landlords

• Grow-ops and landlords
• Disclosure regulations for grow-op houses
• $1 million worth of grow-op equipment up for auction

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Two people survived the blaze, one died at the scene and another passed away in hospital.

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Investigators have zeroed in on heating equipment that was believed to be drying 188 cannabis plants that were being harvested.

“There was no electrical permits and the electrical system was basically put together by the occupants,” said Surrey fire Chief Len Garis.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There was no electrical permits and the electrical system was basically put together by the occupants," said Surrey fire Chief Len Garis.

“This is an example where everything has gone wrong, two people have lost their lives.”

Just because a grow-op is legal doesn’t mean it can violate safety codes, Garis noted.

READ MORE: Two killed in fire at Surrey home growing legal medical marijuana

In 2016, Garis undertook a report on the hazards associated with grow-ops.

In a study of 314 licensed residences, he found that 294 had been inspected by experts.

And all of them had problems, Garis said.

Issues in the homes included mould, dangerous wiring and holes in fire break walls.

“They’re bypassing power in some cases, they were jumpering the electrical panel,” Garis said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They're bypassing power in some cases, they were jumpering the electrical panel," Garis said.

The Fire Chiefs’ Association of B.C. has written to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth expressing concern about federal legislation that allows up to four plants per household.

The chiefs wonder how such rules will be enforced. They noted that Manitoba and Quebec don’t allow grow-ops in homes.

B.C. realtors are also expressing concern about home grow-ops; the B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) has called on the provincial government to tighten rules that protect homebuyers from damage caused by drug production.

And in the meantime, a Surrey neighbourhood grapples with the damage that a grow-op can apparently wreak.

• With files from Simon Little, Ria Renouf and the Canadian Press