Pubdate: Mon, 29 Apr 2002
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2002 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Aldo Santin
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

MARIJUANA PLANTS AT ROOT OF CITY FIRE

Cannabis Resin Maker Starts $200,000 Blaze

It was a kitchen fire of a different sort that gutted a three-storey 
rooming house on Sherbrook Street yesterday afternoon.

The fire started at 151 Sherbrook when a teenager in the residence was 
attempting to make cannabis resin by boiling marijuana plants, Winnipeg 
Police Duty Inspector Bob Parker said.

"We've had several of these incidents where it just doesn't go the way they 
had planned," Parker said last night.

Parker said there was $200,000 damage to the building and its contents. 
There were no injuries.

Neighbour Marsha Linden said she was relaxing with a cup of coffee around 
4:30 p.m. when she looked out her balcony window at the Sherbrook Street 
building.

"I saw smoke and then I saw a burst of flames," Linden said, adding she 
called 911 immediately and then went outside to get a closer look. "It 
started in the back," Linden said. "Fire was coming out the windows and the 
flames were going up almost beyond the second storey."

Linden said firefighters arrived almost immediately and got the fire under 
control within minutes but added it was too late.

"They're still throwing things out the windows and doors," Linden said last 
night.

The residents found alternate accommodations, Parker said.

A 16-year-old will be charged with producing cannabis resin and possession 
of marijuana, Parker said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth