Fires Force Evacuations at Cannabis Farms
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]R[/dropcap]ecord-breaking wildfires are disrupting and devastating cannabis crops across California. Mendocino County is at the heart of the Emerald Triangle, and certain areas are at risk. As of mid-August, the Mendocino Complex fires grew to become the largest wildfire in state history.
Several cannabis farms have been affected. Recently multiple greenhouses went up in flames beginning on July 23 at Loudpack Farms in Greenfield, California. The still-burning Carr Fire displaced employees of Alien Labs and is currently threatening several of its farms, prompting a GoFundMe page. Three men were also arrested in Nice in Lake County, California for refusing to evacuate their cannabis farm. The three men were affected by The Ranch Fire, which grew to 156,678 acres and is part of the Mendocino Complex fires.
Dozens of other fires include the Carr Fire which burned 177,450 acres, the Ferguson Fire which burned 95,104 acres and the Donnell Fire which burned 21,097 acres as of August 10. This year is on track towards exceeding last year’s fire season hich burned upwards of 1.3 million acres, upsetting California’s economy.
During the wildfire season of 2017, infernos destroyed countless cannabis farms in Northern California and beyond. But this year could prove to be even worse.
“I think these fires indicate that our planet is less hospitable,” Hezekiah Allen told Leafly. “To try to frame it in terms of ‘move somewhere else’ is denying the scope of the problem we face as a species. Not to mention, the type [of] agriculture that takes place in ‘commercially hospitable areas’ is a driving force in these types of fires associated with desertification events.” Allen is executive director of the California Growers Association and frequently speaks on behalf of the organization and cultivators in California.
Companies that are barely recovering from the 2017 wildfire season are faced with potential evacuations again.
