Fire at my place today

[Ns1]

Text

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A fire at a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles Thursday became a criminal investigation after firefighters discovered the remnants of an apparent marijuana operation.

Flames broke out at about 6:40 a.m. at a building on South Santa Fe Avenue near 6th Street.

Firefighters told ABC7 that when they arrived, the building was fully engulfed. Fifty-five firefighters battled the flames, knocking out the fire in about 40 minutes.

Once the flames were out, firefighters found hundreds of marijuana plants. The street value of the drugs is estimated to be $1 million, although authorities describe the plants as being immature.

There are no reports of injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but authorities told ABC7 that all the electricity that is needed to support such an enormous marijuana growing operation may have overwhelmed the electrical system and contributed to the fire.

AntiMarijuanaActivist: SEE, THAT'S WHY MARIJUANA SHOULD REMAIN ILLEGAL
ReformWarrior: Well you see, if marijuana wasn't illegal, and could be taxed and regulated like other similar industries, this pot "farm" would have been under the same regulations as any other business.

An operation of this size would have required fire marshalls/building inspectors to make sure the operation was safe and met all safety regulations required by law for an operation similar to this.

 

[JS80]

that's a shame

 

[Howard]

Somebody circumvented the circuit breakers? Used tiny wiring?

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Howard
Somebody circumvented the circuit breakers? Used tiny wiring?

probably too many goddamn lights w/o consulting an electrician

 

[tasmanian]

Damn, you didnt get to see a return on your grow operation did you?

 

[scott916]

Yeah with a building that large, they were probably doing ~10-15,000 watts. Easy to start a fire if you're a dumbass.

 

[joesmoke]

wtf would you rent a damned warehouse to grow pot without first checking to make sure it could support the requisite number of thousand watters... christ youre even getting commerial rates... people are such cheapos/idiots

 

[Kadarin]

If you're going to build a large scale indoor pot operation, hide it in a datacenter where the power consumption and heat would never be noticed.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Kadarin
If you're going to build a large scale indoor pot operation, hide it in a datacenter where the power consumption and heat would never be noticed.

shhhhhhhh you're giving away my secrets

 

[Eli]

Happens all the time. A regular 14 gauge extension cord will get very hot just running one 1000W bulb.

Originally posted by: scott916
Yeah with a building that large, they were probably doing ~10-15,000 watts. Easy to start a fire if you're a dumbass.

More like 35,000W+. Each light is 1000W and could be 1500W if they went for the gusto. Then you have fans and other equipment. It adds up quick.

I've seen ~7000W in just a garage...

 

[Heller]

no Alice B. Toklas for me

 

[D1gger]

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A fire at a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles Thursday became a criminal investigation after firefighters discovered the remnants of an apparent marijuana operation.

Flames broke out at about 6:40 a.m. at a building on South Santa Fe Avenue near 6th Street.

Firefighters told ABC7 that when they arrived, the building was fully engulfed. Fifty-five firefighters battled the flames, knocking out the fire in about 40 minutes.

Once the flames were out, firefighters found hundreds of marijuana plants. The street value of the drugs is estimated to be $1 million, although authorities describe the plants as being immature.

There are no reports of injuries. The Fire Marshall conducted a complete investigation and after a flock of birds flew over the smoke from the fire not a tern was left unstoned.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but authorities told ABC7 that all the electricity that is needed to support such an enormous marijuana growing operation may have overwhelmed the electrical system and contributed to the fire.

You left out a very important quote from the story.

 

[sao123]

gee, thats just too bad.

 

[AmdEmAll]

 

[zinfamous]

I cried a little.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Sounds like a really bad electrical job. Use thicker gauge wire like #10 and go to 30 amp plugs if you have to. Could even use twist lock and lay PDUs across the growing tables to plug everything in.

 

[Old Hippie]

:brokenheart:

 

[Jeff7]

They should've used red LEDs, maybe with a few blue, IR, and UV thrown into the mix.
Much more efficient that way - you only output the frequencies needed by plants, including much less of the IR generated by incandescent lights, thus there's less heat generation, and much less power draw.

Originally posted by: D1gger

The Fire Marshall conducted a complete investigation and after a flock of birds flew over the smoke from the fire not a tern was left unstoned.

You left out a very important quote from the story.

:laugh:

 

[oogabooga]

A moment of silence for your loss of business.

 

[andylawcc]

now that's a real smoke out.