Officers have highlighted the devastating impact cannabis growing can have on communities following a house fire.
Emergency services attended a house in St Michael’s Street, Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire at around 5pm yesterday (Tuesday 7 June), after receiving calls about a fire.
The blaze caused significant damage to the inside of the house before it was extinguished, while houses on either side of the property also had to be evacuated.
It was initially thought that the fire could be linked to cannabis being grown inside the house, although an investigation is still ongoing to establish this.
A man and a woman, aged 28 and 29 respectively, have both been arrested on suspicion of arson and the cultivation of cannabis.
Enquiries are still ongoing to establish the cause of the blaze, with officers urging people to contact the police immediately if they suspect cannabis could be growing inside a property near them.
Detective Inspector Paul Lefford, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Cultivating cannabis, while being illegal and having significant criminal implications, can also cause substantial safety concerns both for those in the house where the grow is taking place and also residents in neighbouring properties.
“It is typical for these types of grows to involve dangerous modifications to wiring and for electricity to be bypassed, which is obviously a huge fire risk and can literally lead to people’s lives being put at risk.
“Our Operation Reacher and neighbourhood policing teams are constantly on the lookout for acts of criminality such as this and carry out regular warrants to stop offenders in their tracks and close these types of operations down for good.
“It is extremely important that anyone who suspects cannabis could be being grown inside a house in their community gets in touch with us straight away by calling the police on 101.”
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Group Manager Matt Reavill added: “Cannabis grows are often very dangerous due to the unsafe wiring used to illegally source heating and lighting to grow the plants. Unsafe storage of chemicals used in growing cannabis can also pose a significant risk of fire.
“Often these grows are in lofts, meaning when a fire takes hold it spreads and destroys the roofs and damages neighbouring properties.
“They can pose a significant risk to the firefighters who tackle the fires and also to the people living nearby.”
Anyone who has any information about the fire in St Michael’s Street is asked to contact the police on 101, quoting incident 530 of 7 June 2022, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.