Investigators: Marijuana growing operation may have had role in Arlington house fire

ARLINGTON — Investigators think a marijuna growing operation had a role in a house fire that crews extinguished on Tuesday, March 23.

While putting out the blaze in the Gleneagle neighborhood home in the 7700 block of Condor Drive, firefighters came upon some unusual venting, wiring and commercial lighting equipment within the crawl space of the building, said city of Arlington spokeswoman Kristin Banfield.

"Police on-scene immediately recognized the suspicious equipement as a clandestine marijuana growing operation and obtained a search warrant to enter the home and retrieve evidence," said Banfield, adding that the fire may have originated in the crawl space.

Banfield said Thursday, March 25, that detectives removed 27 mature and 17 starter plants and collected some additional plants in various stages of growth. About 30-40 more plants were destroyed in the fire, authorities said.

Fire crews responded to a house fire on Tuesday afternoon.

The Arlington Fire Department, along with fire districts 19, 21, 22 and the Marysville Fire District, put out the fire after units originally responded to a call that smoke was coming from the single-family house.

A family of four was waiting outside the single-family house as crews arrived.

So far no arrests have been made in the case, Banfield said.

"We're very fortunate that no one was injured," Arlington Fire Chief Jim Rankin said. "The crews were very aggressive and were able to confine the fire to minimize the damage."

The Snohomish County Fire Marshall's Office is continuing to investigate the cause of fire and Arlington police are continuing their investigation.

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