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Faulty Fire Alarm Alerts Authorities To Marijuana Growing Operation In Camarillo Industrial Building

A fire alarm turned out to be a costly mistake for an illegal marijuana growing operation on the South Coast, because firefighters responding to the alarm stumbled across the plants.

Ventura County firefighters were called to a commercial building in Camarillo March 22nd by an alarm. After they determined there wasn’t a fire, but spotted the plants they called Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives.

Nearly 700 plants were seized. News of the find wasn’t released until this week, while detectives continued their investigation. Because of modifications made to the building for the sophisticated growing operation, it has been red tagged over safety issues.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral.