Wildfires-threaten-California-cannabis-plants

An ever growing threat from forest fires affects a significant network of California cannabis farms, creating a tumultuous situation in the northern part of the state as well as concerns among some cannabis farmers about their crops.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Northern California, the so-called lava fire swelled to more than 17,000 acres by Wednesday. At the beginning of the week, the fire had struck more than 13,000 hectares. The fire is said to have been kindled by a lightning strike in a tree late last week, now the fire continues.

The summer weather in California, where strong gusts of wind spread the wildfire flames, while hot and dry conditions exacerbated the situation in the arid climate, made the firefighters more difficult. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said Tuesday that the state has “secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure the availability of vital resources to suppress the Siskiyou County lava fire. ”

It has created a tense situation near the town of Weed, where local cannabis farmers have accused “local authorities and fire departments burned the lava fire through their properties in the Mount Shasta Vista subdivision on Monday without bothering to delete it. They prevent them from bringing their own water carts so they can fight the fire themselves, ”said The Sacramento Bee.

The newspaper reported Wednesday that authorities have “denied these allegations, saying the marijuana farmers blocked roads, threw stones and forced the Cal Fire crews to withdraw from the scene.”

Forest fires absorb steam

The situation boiled over on Monday when four police officers shot and killed a man who allegedly shot them “when they tried to stop a vehicle at the entrance to a large complex of cannabis farms that is being evacuated,” The Sacramento Bee reported .

Allegedly, many of the farmers are Hmnog and of Chinese descent. The man who was fatally shot by officials on Monday was reportedly Hmong.

Farmers claim that “the lack of response to the fire fighting is the latest act of racism against them by Siskiyou County officials who have been cracking down on the illegal cannabis farms that are spreading dramatically on private property in Big Springs for more than a year Northern California area, ”said The Sacramento Bee.

“The firefighter only works today. You don’t do anything yesterday, ”one of the farmers, Michael Thao, told the newspaper. “They’re trying to get us out.”

Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue denied this in an interview with the Sacramento Bee.

“For the past few days, we’ve had growers water carts blocking roads that prevented Cal Fire from getting there to fight the fire,” LaRue said. “The firefighters were pelted with stones. Monday night we had calls from some of the Cal Fire firefighters and other firefighters that people were lurking around their vehicles, stopping them and being aggressive and yelling at them. Cal Fire didn’t feel safe and they moved out and went to a safe place and communicated with law enforcement. “

In addition to the Lava Fire, California is fighting two other smaller fires nearby – the Tennant Fire and the Beswick Fire.

It’s a grim reality for those involved in the busy west coast marijuana industry. Last year, the devastating forest fire season that wreaked havoc in the region reportedly forced the evacuation of about 20 percent of Oregon’s state-licensed cannabis companies.

The Oregonian newspaper reported at the time that “73 marijuana producers, most of them free-range farms, have been ordered to evacuate.” It is a tragedy that the forest fire season continues to be devastating for cannabis companies on the west coast.

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