What started as a routine warehouse fire call in Pacific last weekend turned into something far stranger, as firefighters stumbled onto a sprawling indoor marijuana grow and a set of bear traps waiting by the doors.
Valley Regional Fire Authority crews responded to a 911 report of a warehouse blaze around 6:34 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, in the 100 block of Stewart Road Southwest. After putting out the fire, they went in to search for victims and instead found a large grow operation tucked inside one unit, according to a Pacific Police Department news release, first reported by The News Tribune. Firefighters backed out and called Pacific police, who secured the scene and sought a search warrant.
A judge signed off on that warrant on Wednesday, May 27, clearing investigators to conduct a formal search of the warehouse. What they found turned a routine fire call into a multi-agency case: hazardous chemicals, thousands of plants and, tucked near the entrances, four bear traps.
Hazards For Responders
Indoor grow operations can pose a minefield of dangers that go well beyond a typical structure fire. Overloaded wiring, high-intensity lighting and volatile chemicals used in cannabis processing all increase the risk of electrical shorts, flash fires and fast-moving flames. Firefighters and safety officials have long warned that makeshift electrical setups or power-stealing hookups can spark rapid fire spread, and that extraction equipment can create serious explosion risks, according to reporting by Leafly. Those are the very reasons crews bring in police and utility partners before sending teams back inside to poke around after the smoke clears.
What Investigators Say
Once investigators went in under the warrant, they documented about 1,000 marijuana plants in the unit and "extensive hazardous chemicals associated with the grow operation," according to the Pacific Police Department release. They also found what may be the most chilling detail for first responders: "Four bear traps were located, positioned near entry points within the unit, creating a significant danger to first responders and others entering the property."
Police later obtained a second warrant and seized several hundred additional plants from another unit in the same building. Law enforcement officers and City of Pacific code enforcement officials also noted numerous building and fire code violations and signs of suspected electrical power theft. Investigators are now working with Valley Regional Fire Authority, Puget Sound Energy, City of Pacific Code Enforcement and property management to gauge the building’s overall safety and whether it is fit for people to occupy.
Anyone with information related to the case is asked to call the Pacific Police Department at 253-929-1130 or email Sgt. Tanner Knutsen at [email protected], according to The News Tribune.
The discovery in Pacific highlights the ongoing headaches for firefighters, police and code officials when vacant or lightly monitored industrial spaces get repurposed for illegal cultivation. For now, the warehouse remains under review while multiple agencies sort through the hazards and potential enforcement actions. The investigation is still active, and officials say more details will be released as they become available.
