[420 Girl]

Fire officials want to know which houses are running legal marijuana grow operations.

Bob Simpson, deputy chief of operations with Nanaimo Fire Rescue, said whether they are legal or illegal, grow-ops pose a huge risk to firefighters if they are ever called to fight a fire.

Simpson said the amount of electrical wires, chemicals and building alterations found in private grow-ops requires different firefighting tactics.

The federal government does not permit information on legal growing operations to be given to municipalities or fire departments.

A resolution calling on the federal government to reveal pot-growing residences to municipal governments was not endorsed at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in October.

Simpson said he understands why people want the information kept private - if the public knew a house had a grow-op, that house would likely be targeted by addicts and thieves - but there are ways to ensure the information is protected.

He would like to see homes with legal grow-ops flagged in the fire department's dispatch system.

More than one-quarter of the 4,728 individuals authorized to possess marijuana for medical purposes across Canada are in B.C. - 1,293. Nearly 800 people in B.C. are licensed to produce marijuana.

Stephen Gamble, president of the Fire Chiefs' Association of B.C., said he also wants private grow-ops inspected to ensure they meet electrical and building standards.

"These legal ones don't look much different than illegal ones in terms of public safety," he said. "It's the same wiring concerns and building issues. There's exposed wiring, overloaded circuits, lots of condensation."

Gamble said people often cut holes in walls or ceilings to deal with the excess moisture produced by a grow-op. Those holes provide the air a fire needs to spread more quickly than firefighters would expect.

"It's a danger to people living in the house and a danger to firefighters," he said.

Nanaimo mayor John Ruttan said he would like to see the matter brought up again, but is concerned revealing the information might constitute an invasion of a person's privacy rights, since they are doing nothing illegal.

"It's a concern, but then what is more important - the safety of the firefighters or the privacy of the individual?" he said.

"I think we need to get a resolution on this issue."

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