Pot Garden Sparks Oakland Building Blaze
Elaborate system overloaded circuit box: police
AP
The grow's load on the circuit box likely sparked the blaze.
Firefighters got quite a surprise Friday morning after they put out a fire in a two-story commercial building.
Crews were called to the building just after 7 a.m. and quickly controlled the fire, which has started in near an electrical box, Battalion Chief Robert Lipp said.
During the safety inspection, they uncovered an elaborate marijuana-growing operation that included up to 200 plants, lights and ventilation equipment, Oakland police Sgt. Rick Andreotti said.
The grow's load on the circuit box likely sparked the blaze, Lipp said.
The bust comes just a couple months after the San Francisco Police Department discovered a massive growing operation in the City's Sunset District. It was the 20th such bust in just five months in the area.
Posted Friday, Oct 9, 2009 - 11:21 AM PST
