BURNED IN POT FARM FIRE

A man rushed to hospital with severe burns to his upper body was found
inside a trailer with a pot farm fuelled by propane, the mobile home
park's manager said.

Won Kim, the manager of Four Acres and Willow Mobile Home Park in
Coquitlam, said the place had only been rented out for four months
when the explosion happened at 16-671 Lougheed Hwy. Saturday at around
4 p.m.

Inside the trailer, Coquitlam Fire/Rescue and Coquitlam RCMP said they
found a small marijuana grow operation and a man with extensive burns
to his arms and face. He was taken to Vancouver General Hospital with
injuries considered "life threatening." His name has not been released.

Coquitlam RCMP's Serious Crime Unit is now investigating the cause of
the blaze, said assistant fire chief Al Dutton. Damage to the home is
estimated at $25,000.

Monday, Kim, who was about to put up yellow tape around the burned-out
shell to prevent people from entering, said he had been in contact
with the trailer's landlord, who also owns two other homes on the
site. The white and blue trailer, which stands on cinder blocks and
wooden stilts, will likely be demolished this week, Kim said.

Damage to the neighbouring trailers is minimal.

Another area landlord told The Tri-City News he recently evicted his
tenants after they were found growing B.C. bud. And in January 2004,
Kim said a tenant was caught cultivating marijuana in her suite.

The six-year manager said he has had to call the police on several
occasions because of the tenants. "Smoking pot, drinking, fighting -
all kinds of problems - but the police don't do anything," he said.

Four Acres and Willow Mobile Home Park will be sold to Mosaic Homes in
March for re-development, forcing the 59 families that now live there
to move elsewhere.