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Grow lights trigger false fire alarms Wednesday Dec 28, 2016 at 12:16 PM Dec 28, 2016 at 12:33 PM By Troy Shinn Grants Pass Daily Courier Local firefighters have been dealing lately with a problem that can only be described as a sign of the times. Rural/Metro Fire Department Battalion Chief Austin Prince says that several areas in Josephine County have large greenhouses with lights that, from a distance, can appear to be the glow of a house fire. His agency has responded to a number of false alarm calls lately. "Specifically when it gets into colder weather, folks that have greenhouses are putting up grow lights that are quite bright," Prince said. "The houses are often made of white if not clear plastic that can glow into the air and be seen from a distance. It does give the appearance that the house is on fire." Rural/Metro is unsure of how best to tackle this problem, as it is important for people to call 911 when they see an emergency. However, the fire department is using a lot of resources and response time to answer calls that end up being false alarms. "It's a real catch-22," Prince said. "We don't want to give people the impression that they shouldn't call us if they see a suspected fire, but it poses some real problems when we're responding with six trucks to a property that turns out to be a greenhouse." Prince said firefighters necessarily don't know what it is growing in these greenhouses that require such bright lights. However, with the huge influx of marijuana-growing operations in the county, it's taken for granted that these greenhouses are being used to grow pot. Another problem, Prince said, is that callers who report fires often do not stay in the area to tell dispatchers or responders what they were looking at and from what direction. He thinks this is mostly because the people who are calling in do not live in the area and are just passing through. If they did stick around, it would be easier for fire agencies to determine whether the "fire" that callers are reporting might actually be a greenhouse, and therefore save time and resources. Rural/Metro would like the public to know that when possible, staying in one spot would help them not only determine if one is actually seeing grow lights, but it also helps them pinpoint where a fire is if it's a real emergency. A few of the areas that frequently pop up on these false alarms are a couple of greenhouses near the Murphy area and one on Cloverlawn Drive. Price said that, when possible — and without trespassing — residents or drivers who think they see a fire should look a little closer to see if they can confirm the structure fire. With fires of the size that these grow lights appear to be, good Samaritans would likely feel the heat or smell smoke. Illinois Valley Fire Chief Dennis Hoke says his agency has had issues with this in the past, though not recently. "We usually get more of these calls in foggier weather," Hoke said. "The air, when it's rainy or foggy, can make the glow of the lights easier to see." Both Prince and Hoke think that if growers used dimmer lights, or used light shades to dull the peripheral glow, the problem would decline. "We talk to ones that we frequently have a problem with about possibly shielding their lights," Hoke said. "But it's really up to them whether they do this." Hoke said the county has some ordinances that would allow officials to cite the owners of greenhouses that are excessively bright. "The county has the ability to cite people for this, but it has some really limited teeth," Hoke said. "I'm hoping that with new commissioners coming in there will be some new effort to have actual monetary citations. Those types of things would go a long ways." No ordinance currently regulates grow lights, according to county Community Development Director Julie Schmelzer. However, there is an ordinance that protects night-sky pollution near city parks that may apply in some of these cases. "There currently is no monetary citation for this," Schmelzer said. "But there are proposals to add new ordinances that could result in citations." The new proposal for regulations that the Board of Commissioners will review in January specifies that light pollution from greenhouses cannot be visible from adjacent properties. County Commissioner Simon Hare said it's important to note that even with new ordinances, the county is limited in enforcing monetary citations, as it has only one code enforcement administrator, and they don't work at night when these violations would normally occur. Schmelzer says code enforcement allows for adjustable hours, however, and that all complaints receive a response. "Our code enforcement administrator issues dozens of citations a week, and if there is a complaint at night, she adjusts her hours and goes after 5 (p.m.)," Schmelzer said. "We respond to every complaint we get about violations, just maybe not in the time that complainants may like. We do have to prioritize complaints." For now, fire authorities say that the best solution is educating the public about the problem and providing them with best practices. — Reach reporter Troy Shinn at 541-474-3806 or [email protected]