The house at 1040 N. Jasmine Street in Lompoc is sealed, with a sticker on the front door saying, “UNSAFE TO OCCUPY.” A pile of burnt wood, insulation, and debris sits in the driveway, covered with a tarp. Inside the converted garage are the remains of an indoor medical marijuana garden.
On the morning of Feb. 5, the house caught on fire. Fire crews were able to snuff the blaze before it got out of control, and no one was hurt. An investigation by the Lompoc Fire Department determined that an overheated wire originating from the garage—which housed several high-intensity heat lamps—caught on fire in the attic. To accommodate the electrical draw from the grow room, a 20-amp breaker had been swapped out for a 30-amp one, overburdening the system and causing the wire to overheat, according to LFD Chief Kurt Latipow.
Because the renter of the home had a California medical marijuana card, Lompoc Police Chief Pat Walsh said he isn’t pursing any charges. But the lack of regulations on indoor pot growers is a safety concern for Latipow. He said he’s been talking with Walsh about the possibility of drafting a city ordinance that would place some controls on indoor medical marijuana gardens.
He added that when the fire department gets a call about a house fire, responders need to know what to expect when they walk through the front door.
“The concern is [we think] we’re going into a house that meets current code, not a garage full of high intensity heat lamps,” Latipow said. “For me, I just want to know where they’re at so my guys can be safe.”
Since California legalized medicinal marijuana in 1996, some northern areas of the state have seen an increase in the indoor cultivation of the plant, according to a 2011 study, Energy Up in Smoke, by Evan Mills, a senior scientist at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. Mills wrote that all together, indoor pot growth accounts for 8 percent of household electricity use in California. Mills also noted that official guidance is lacking when it comes to modifying home electrical systems.
“Consumers possess little information on the energy implications of this practice,” Mills wrote in his study.
The study also noted that up to 200 watts of power per square foot are used to keep plants growing. In a house loaded with grow lights and other electrical equipment, shoddy wiring could lead to trouble, according to Latipow.
“The electrical system in your home is designed for a very specific draw that’s related to appliances, lighting, etc.,” Latipow said, adding that he is not an electrician. “The breakers are geared to that draw. The wiring is also coded for the draw. If you have 30 amps of draw on a 20 amp rated wire, you end up having heat.”
The breaker that was swapped in at the house on Jasmine Street wasn’t properly rated for the home’s electrical system. Officials in Lompoc’s building department told the Sun that there weren’t any records of recent electrical work permits for the home.
Although it’s the first fire of its kind he’s experienced in Lompoc, it’s nothing new for Latipow. As fire chief in Ukiah, he saw several similar electrical fires. He said it was challenging to put out fires in houses with blacked-out windows and illegal wiring.
Before he left Ukiah in 2007, Latipow was working on an ordinance to regulate indoor pot gardens. The city eventually passed an ordinance requiring medical marijuana cultivators to comply with the state building code.
There are also efforts at the state level to control medical marijuana cultivation, but not for home growing purposes. California Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Rancho Cordova) introduced Assembly Bill 266 on Feb. 10, and it would give local governments the power to regulate medical pot grown for commercial distribution. Cooley said he didn’t want to interfere with the existing right to grow for personal use, but acknowledged that improper indoor setups could cause problems.
“There is a safety issue,” Cooley said. “If people are pulling too much power, it’s not just a hazard to the premises but to nearby neighbors.”
Doug Barron, the owner of the rented house on Jasmine Street, said he believes there should be some level of regulation on indoor cultivation of pot.
“It should be like everything else,” Barron said, comparing it to a person who needs a cottage foods license to run a bakery out of their home.
Barron said he feels “burned” over what happened to his rental, which was at “showroom quality,” before the fire. He’s now tasked with cleaning up the damage and doesn’t understand why someone would grow pot when there are delivery services available.
“In this day and age, if you need medical marijuana, they’ll just bring it to your house,” Barron said.
Contact Staff Writer David Minsky at dminsky@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 26 – Mar 5, 2015.