Faulty Electric Tap Sparked Grow House Fire, Officials Say

BRANDON, FL – While grow house operators generally strive to fly under the radar, a Brandon operation failed to do so Monday when an electrical fire led authorities right to the front door.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called out to 906 Homewood Drive after a fire broke out at the home. Once inside the home, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue personnel found "two rooms converted for growing marijuana and multiple marijuana plants in soil filled pots,” the sheriff’s office wrote in an email to media.

After the fire was out and a search warrant was obtained, deputies went to work seizing evidence from the charred property, the email said. Deputies found high sodium vapor lights, ballasts, fans and 31 mature marijuana plants. Those plants, the sheriff’s office said, weighed in at 270 pounds and are estimated to be worth about $540,000.

Tampa Electric Company officials also responded to the scene and tracked down an illegal tap that was providing un-metered electricity to the home. That tap, Fire Investigator Brett Vaughan determined, was the cause of the fire. The total amount of electricity swiped, TECO estimated, came in at nearly $9,000.

The sheriff’s office has yet to announce arrests related to the grow house’s discovery. As of Tuesday morning, the case remained under investigation.

Monday’s find was the 16th grow house shut down in Hillsborough County since 2016 began, the sheriff’s office said.

Photos courtesy of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office

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