FIREFIGHTERS DISCOVERED A SUSPICIOUS PLANT-GROWING OPERATION WHILE PUTTING OUT A BLAZE IN AN INDUSTRIAL RIVERSIDE BUILDING IN CALIFORNIA
Jan. 21, 2015
Riverside, California
Firefighters discovered a suspicious plant-growing operation
while putting out a blaze in an industrial Riverside building, officials said.
Witnesses called dispatch at 6:55 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21,
reporting smoke coming from the roof of a building at 2422 Kansas Ave. in the
Hunter Industrial Park, said Riverside fire Battalion Chief Tony Perna.
Firefighters forced their way in and found the fire burning
in the attic, Perna said.
They also found a separate structure built inside the
building's warehouse. It was full of plants that appeared to be marijuana, said
Riverside fire Battalion Chief Bruce Vanderhorst. Riverside police were called
to investigate.
The blaze was out by 7:15 a.m. but the discovery of an
unknown type of liquid caused officials to call the hazardous materials team.
Roads were temporarily blocked at Kansas and Roberta Street.
Nobody was injured and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Ruth Amrich was one of the witnesses who called the Fire
Department. She saw the smoke rising from downtown, so she drove close enough
to get the address.
"I know that's not steam, that's way too much,"
she recalled thinking as she approached the scene. "When I rolled the
window down I said yep, that's a fire."
Derek Gaytan works across the street at a mechanical parts
testing facility and saw the smoke on his way to work.
"Coming up the freeway you could see that smoke,"
he said.
He noticed the gate was ajar but nobody seemed to be there.