My Craziest Humboldt Day Ever: One Grower’s Account of Rescuing a Friend’s Pot Patch From a Lightning Fire

One grower tells his story about rescuing a friend’s marijuana farm from a lightning fire last night. For obvious reasons, we cannot verify all aspects of the story or identify the writer. However, we have verified some aspects of the story and are satisfied that the story is reasonably accurate. Minor edits were made to a text document typed on a cellphone…

So it’s 7am, I still haven’t slept yet, but as I sit here reflecting on what might have been the craziest night of my weed career in Humboldt, I can’t help but smile. I made it. What that means will become more clear as this story evolves. You may find yourself in disbelief, but I promise the events that unfolded are 100% true.

Yesterday started out as most of my days do, I hopped into my diesel truck and headed out to “The Hill”, like all dopers do, to check on a few properties. Currently all my light dep is down at the moment so I’m knee deep in trimmers. My main purpose for the day was to shuffle a few trimmers from one property to another. So I stopped somewhere off the 36, picked up my crew of smelly trimsters, and headed out towards Hyampom. When the term BFE was first coined [I’m] pretty sure Hyampom was what they had in mind. It’s a small town in a secluded valley nestled right in between the 36 and 299. From the 36 the easiest way to get there is to take Route 1 north, and then a dirt road for about 20 miles until [you] pop into Hyampom.

So as I headed up Route 1 I noticed all these ominous dark clouds and thought to myself FUUUUUUUUUCK, those [are] thunderheads and it’s about to get really real out here. That’s when the Lightning started, the catalyst to my craziest day ever. I don’t know if [you] read the news much, but there’s a drought, and the forest is a match box right now.

Lightning was going off everywhere and as I got to the top of route 1, I could see in the distance about 15 different fires of varying sizes. Somehow by the grace of God none of these fires were near me. While I was not happy by any means because I understand fires put people’s lives in danger, I felt relief knowing I was in the clear. The closest fire to me was a small brush fire right on route 1. Not a big deal, or so I thought.

I get to my property about 7ish pm and I’m hanging out with my buddy and we decide to go for a drive back to [R]oute 1 where all the mountains in the distance [are] visible to see how these fires [are] progressing.

11798257_10153136386114436_1250772116_nAt this point it’s about 9pm, I took this picture and [you] can see all the different little fires going on. They [are] way off in the distance which is why I felt relatively safe.

This is where it starts to get sideways on me. I get a call from my friend Bear and he tells me that lightning struck an hour ago, about a 1000 yards from his place, and he was in serious danger of losing all his Pot that was currently hang drying and he asked me if I could help him out. Never to let a friend in need down [I] looked at my buddy to the right of me and said, “[Let’s] go save this poor guy.” My buddy was in.

As the crow flies, [B]ear is only like 6 miles away, but by the time we get through all the gates and traverse the windy roads, it’s like 1130 at night before we get to the road to his property. Now as we arrive 3 big [Calif. Dept. of Forestry] trucks come a rumbling down the road and wave us down.

This burly guy looks at me and says, “What the hell [are you] doing.” So I told him, “[M]y buddy’s place is about to burn down but we need to get his “valuables” out before he abandons ship.” This guy looks at me and says, “[T]he LEO’s will be here in the morning so if [you’re] gonna move a bunch of weed around [you] better do it now or [you] might be looking at some trouble in the morning. But I gotta be honest with you, the fire is only 75 yards from the road. I wouldn’t risk it.”

So I said thanks for the heads up looked at my buddy to the right of me and said, “[F]uck it, we’ll be fine.” So, [o]f course, [w]e jam up this mountain [road] and upon arrival I can tell my buddy is flipped. You probably would be too if [you] worked your ass off for the last six months just to end up losing everything to a fire. So he’s running around trying to grab everything valuable and throw it in the back of his truck. He has two workers in a car port that is full of hanging weed taking all of that down and throwing it into two big tarps.

…I brought my trailer with me so we wrap all that weed up into two giant tarped weed burritos and stuff my trailer with it. Unfortunately, there is one more carport full of hanging weed and no place to put it, so we brainstorm for a minute. We came up with a pretty good idea. He had a 2500 gallon water tank that he wasn’t using so we literally, (and maybe [you] had to be there because it seemed absurd to me,) [are] stuffing this water tank with dried pot plants and are able to fit it all in [there.] It was stuffed to the brim.

We strap that to a quad trailer he has on the property and start to head out. Now if [you] can imagine this, there is a jeep with a quad trailer behind it with this giant water tank strapped to it full of weed. A trailer behind my truck stuffed full of weed. One of the workers is driving a Polaris with goggles on and my buddy in his truck. Quite the dirty convoy headed out.

Now, [t]o be honest, [I] wasn’t that worried about law enforcement because the plan was to back road it to my place and put his stuff in my barn to sort out later. I’m an idiot, what was I thinking. This is where it gets crazier.
At the bottom of the road is a truck with two federal game wardens waiting for us to come down because they were told by some {California Department of Forestry] guys that we might need rescuing and they wanted to make sure we made it out ok. So they stop us and ask us about the fire which really wasn’t getting any closer to the road but was definitely climbing the mountain so we answered [their] questions about the fire.

After the small talk one of the officers kind of bluntly says, “[I]s that trailer full of weed [because] it smells terrible.”

I said “[You] know what, sir? [I]t is, but it’s all medical.”

Then he says, “[A]nd that water tank, that’s full of weed too[?]”

I said “[Y]up, but that weed is medical too.”

So he starts laughing and I’m laughing and he grabs his phone and is like “I gotta get a picture of this.” So he takes his picture and then says, “So [you’re] the guys at the top of the hill.”

[W]e say, “[Y]ah.”

He’s like “[W]ell, normally I would arrest all of you right now, but I have to do more of these evacuations” and then he looks at my buddy and says, “[You are] probably gonna lose [your] cabin and whatever [you] didn’t get out of there so get the fuck out of here and maybe [you] can make some money off [your] stuff to rebuild.”

I shit [you] not, this guy was fucking dialed. So we jam down the mountain back to my place and it’s like 3 am when we get back. I have a panic attack for about 30 minutes because in my mind I was about to be arrested for doing a stupid favor. Eventually I calm down and I realize I’m not going to jail but also I’m not that tired and decide to go home. I had enough of the “hill” at this point.

Well, that small fire I mentioned to you in the beginning of this story turned into this. 11798475_10153136144799436_214936970_n So I drove through hell and decided to text my friend Kym about my crazy day and she asked me to please tell this story. So right now it’s 8:14 am I just finished writing this, I need a nap, and I hope y’all get a good laugh:)

And that’s my craziest [H]umboldt day ever.

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49 Comments
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stinkfootsteve
Guest
stinkfootsteve
8 years ago

Run forrest run!

concerned
Guest
concerned
8 years ago

Any markers for where the fires at on forestry rd 1?

G-ma
Guest
G-ma
8 years ago

Amen!!!so glad your alright.And by the way,your a great friend

littlefoot
Guest
littlefoot
8 years ago

That medical weed is going to get some people tanked!

silverlining
Guest
silverlining
8 years ago

Ha ha! Hope they save as many places as they can.

Ben
Guest
Ben
8 years ago

This guy can write…!

Peggy sarver
Guest
8 years ago

See there really are angels, god bless you all and I’m glad you’re safe and buddy you got a pretty good writing career there

veteransfriend
Guest
veteransfriend
8 years ago

Except that’s all Trinity county isn’t it?

Groan
Guest
Groan
8 years ago

Sounds like an episode of the Trailer Park Boys.

Aletheia
Guest
Aletheia
8 years ago

This speaks volumes about pot growers .there are volunteer firefighters out there trying to save property, people and land.While greedy growers are only interested in their cashcow .hmm i wonder if they were stealing water and putting it in their tank?

silverlining
Guest
silverlining
8 years ago
Reply to  Aletheia

I am sure there is no such thing as a firefighter with their own grow. Don’t be hijacking threads.

Me
Guest
Me
8 years ago

What an idiot first of all you just stated your work route and how you caretake all these gardens you are the kind of greedy grower that I can’t stand I live on 36 and I’m sick of being ran off the road by all the stupid growers with diesel trucks blowing out black clouds, stealing our water and dumping chemicals on the ground and acting like they are better then everybody and they have the right to do what they want you are destroying my home but besides that you just let the Feds take a pic of your truck when the fires are out and they have some down time well I’m sure they will remember your truck those guys work their asses off to maintain the land you are destroying so they don’t like you even more then me. Good luck idiots thats why old school growers have a code they go by maybe you should learn it

silverlining
Guest
silverlining
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

To late with your hate my friend.

Random guy
Guest
Random guy
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

[edit] Yeah some guy in a fed building is putting an APB out for a guy in a diesel truck who drives the 36 and route 1. Yah that’s gonna get them somewhere. I mean at least use your brain before you commit words to paper. I’m pretty aware of the code, it has to do with having compassion and caring about your friends and being there for your neighbors when they need you. This is a story about a guy committing a selfless act to help a friend in need and all you have to share is your indignity. [edit]

jim
Guest
jim
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

The butthurt runs deep in this one

jim
Guest
jim
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

Well here’s my two cents: Telling this story on the internet was just a bad idea. It may have meant to be told, one day, but the very next day was a bad idea because the storyteller doesn’t realize he’s in big trouble, that those game wardens weren’t playing around. The warden didn’t snap a picture on his phone to show his buddies and laugh about it. The warden knows the storytellers face, has his picture, and knows where the parcel is. I hope the storyteller gets away with all this. But if I were him I would have slept better tonight if kept the story myself.

No Joke
Guest
No Joke
8 years ago
Reply to  jim

I would probably think about taking the year off next year. While chances of anything happening this year are slim, next year is a different story. Game wardens are smart and no joke. I fish a lot, I’m no outlaw and by the time I got around to introducing myself to the local warden, he told me which truck was mine. That was an eye opener.

Julia
Guest
Julia
8 years ago
Reply to  jim

The guy who told this story sounds like a kook

Julia
Guest
Julia
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

Pretty much you said it!

Phoenix
Guest
8 years ago
Reply to  Me

I thought the pic for evidence later was the dumbest part. Especially because now the cops know him and he just wrote a long letter explaining he has multiple grows which no one needs!

Old Head
Guest
Old Head
8 years ago

Good work, good lookin’ out by the local firefighters, and nice to see that even the federal game warden had his priorities straight (and also cool that he had a sense of humor about it).

Also, you haven’t had the full grower experience until you’ve had to, for one reason or another, throw everything you have in giant weed burrito tarp bundles and make it disappear. 😉

Feisty Redhead
Guest
Feisty Redhead
8 years ago

This was a great story! All politics aside it sounds like everyone had their priorities straight! Humorous and refreshing at the same time.

over it
Guest
over it
8 years ago

Congratulations. You want a freakin’ medal?
Thank goodness those game wardens weren’t injured in the fires while looking for your sorry asses.
Hope you feel good about all the water you used for your precious weed and I hope there was plenty left in the rivers for the fire fighters to use to save law abiding resident’s home.

Julia
Guest
Julia
8 years ago
Reply to  over it

I dont know… if I had a friend call me and say that his property is about to catch fire… I’d tell him to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Nature is powerful, nature is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Also, like somebody else said, those rangers out there were risking their lives and taking time out of helping other people by waiting for you while you load up all your “weed burritos” in your huge diesel trucks. This person sounds like a kook.

Chrissy Carlson
Guest
Chrissy Carlson
8 years ago

Thanks, that was a pretty cool story. I liked it anyway.

Shortjohnson
Guest
Shortjohnson
8 years ago

I can remember an instance of my own from the 90s where I was also given a get out of jail free card.
Just like me, you will be telling that story for decades to come.
Your a lucky bastard and so are the rest of your crew. I hope your luck holds out.
Happy Harvest

bbsan23
Guest
bbsan23
8 years ago

Medical?? REALLY?? you hang it in barns, you tarp it up and put it on trailers and four-wheelers oh yea and a used water tank. Down through dusty roads and then what? And you wish us to think this is supposed to be medicine?? I am appalled. Do you really think you can market legitimate medicine in this way? What would the patients think of these methods? Would they really think it is medicine when handled in such brute and unsanitary condition?
You helped a friend make his bank nothing more. Please inform us all to which dispensaries you are supplying so legitimate medical consumers can avoid your “medicine” and the dispensaries which think you are providing a safe and sanitary product.
There was a REAL pharmacy in the Star Hotel fire in Fortuna. Upon cleanup, you think the pharmacist would try to salvage any un-burned medicine for public consumption?? Get real, you salvaged a buncha dope, and nothing more [edit].

Hick
Guest
Hick
8 years ago

[edit] IT’s a message from above, leave Humboldt! and don’t come back!

Ha
Guest
Ha
8 years ago

” the 36 ”

I’m envisioning the pot hero wearing a flat billed Santa Cruz hat with white framed sunglasses on it.

Funny
Guest
Funny
8 years ago
Reply to  Ha

Great story but yeah, you can tell the outta towners from locals by how they talk about the highways. “The” 36, “the” 299….

..
Guest
..
8 years ago
Reply to  Funny

That’s a [edit]generalization

Shelbi Gamel
Guest
Shelbi Gamel
8 years ago

I loved that story! Fun read!

franz
Guest
franz
8 years ago

Wow, so cool you tool. Maybe you can help him off the product and get an even bigger truck and a few new growhoez. The greed will catch up with everyone of you clowns eventually, even if JahJah flames spared ya this time. Thanx for exploiting my county even more…go back to the midwest [edit].

humboldt honey
Guest
humboldt honey
8 years ago

Thats what I love about this area, neighbors help neighbors out here no matter the time or circumstance. Some trolls on here would turn a neighborly story into a negative thing, but we all know if it was a neighbor helping his friend get all his cows out safe nobody would have anything bad to say. What those people must not realize is it takes way more water to raise a cow, but can still financially kill a person if they loose their assets either way. And, to the smart person talking about the sanitary ways something medical was handled, lady, sorry to pop your bubble, but these are plants we are talking about here, grown in the so sanitary great outdoors with dust and bugs and probably fertilized with good ol organic poop. And by the way, people pay taxes to help pay firemen who are there to protect people and assetts. They usually choose that job because last I heard slavery is out. I love our firemen and women and God bless them because that is what they do thank goodness. If some people think what they believe in is somehow more important than what other free Americans believe in then I think they have greatly misunderstood what the United States Constitution is suppose to represent, and the Bible for that matter. And Karma. You might one day find something special to you being struck by lightning, and if it happens, I hope your not surrounded by big bad pot growers to help you…lol

HYW 36 Resident
Guest
HYW 36 Resident
8 years ago
Reply to  humboldt honey

These are not good neighbors!!!! Just greedy dope growning, water steeling dirt bags! They don’t live here! Just think about how our rivers might look if we didn’t have over 5000 large grows in Humboldt! They are not drilling wells, well not buy the law, and draining every drip of water they can find on their property and their neighbors too! If these guys got caught up in the fire, it would be no great loss for everyone that lives here, and calls this area home! Enough is enough!

Hard To Handle
Guest
Hard To Handle
8 years ago

Whoa! Let’s wish everybody to survive safely. We all argue and fight but we all live to agree or argue again tomorrow! I feel similarly about all the many blown-up weed scenes and don’t mind a bunch of them burning. I don’t like how ALL weed growing gets glorified on this website and all growers are heroes (they aren’t). But I can’t condemn anybody for helping out their neighbor. And please let’s respect each other’s lives and personal safety in this crisis- even if we strongly disagree on lifestyle values.

nunya
Guest
nunya
8 years ago
Reply to  humboldt honey

AMEN!!

Dumboldt
Guest
Dumboldt
8 years ago
Reply to  humboldt honey

Right on Honey. What you said.

yourmomcalled
Guest
yourmomcalled
8 years ago

I call bullshit. There aren’t federal game wardens in the area. Plus, there aren’t really federal game wardens. Cool story, bro.

Fish On
Guest
Fish On
8 years ago
Reply to  yourmomcalled

Not sure what “area” you are talking about. There are fed game wardens in the “area”. The ones I’ve seen drive the same style truck as CA F$W, only the feds are black. Their patch also says Federal. They are not only on fed lands. I’ve seen them on different rivers.

Real
Guest
Real
8 years ago

Fish and Game are federal [edit]! And they are all over trinity and Humboldt.

Fredm
Guest
Fredm
8 years ago

Fish and game is a dept of our state gov pal. Poster is right the only fed game wardens are stationed on our federal wildlife refuges not in national forest, likely what this dude saw were forest service Rangers and yes they are federal.

hillmuffin
Guest
8 years ago

those guys represent the dep wave that has washed over the area…
making the mom and pops product less valuable in summer…
irrational envy yes…
the mom and pops have lost their right to complain,
as their children lead the greedy way…
its a mess…what to do…
i often wonder what was more shocking:
the hippies invading the rednecks in the 70’s
or this greenrush of rapacious dep to the mom
and pops…
filling the streets with hot women trimmers,
here it comes again…

A person like you
Guest
8 years ago

I don’t ever comment or write in papers or blogs..so I’m at the boil to be doing so. I’ve lived up in the emerald for five years, today is my birthday:) I just want to let all the pot haters to know that wishing death, hate, fire and prison on anyone makes you really ugly. I strongly dislike all the clear cuts all the old timer loggers did. The genocide too. Not salmon but people! The day the fires started was after the most recent trinity journal, which had articles spearheading the local movement against pot. There was a brief suggestion in that article to close the library for extra funds to bust growers?!? These have been some of the many mind boggles I’ve heard recently. There’s bad grows out there for sure, full of tents n sewage. Subtract the grow and you get the backside of the bayshore mall! You can say there’s a stereotype about rural people being kinda dumb, it is sad and false but the illogical hate rising in our communities gives a feverish life to such thoughts and perceptions. Get permits don’t use poison and avoid your evangelical youth haters;)

Not A Grower
Guest
Not A Grower
8 years ago

What narrow minded people cant see or understand is the spectrum is wide. The spectrum doesnt discriminate. It doesnt matter what the subject is, there are both ends and everything in the middle. Loggers, pot growers, rich people, poor people, hunters, homeless people, whatever the situation, there is always the good and bad.

Yep
Guest
Yep
8 years ago

Yup and it’s not like the logging companies have stopped logging on roads there are fires on. I see them everyday since the fires started. Even in the thickest of smoke which burns the eyes, clogs of nose, makes it hard to breathe. They sure as hell aren’t cleaning all the slash they left in the past and they sure as fucking hell aren’t cleaning the fuel they make now.

Wog
Guest
Wog
8 years ago

I understand the skepticism, and I may not have believed it all myself if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, but this story is true. The intensity of the situation was palatable and these guys did what it took to salvage months of hard work. I feel blessed to have been able to help and will remember those three days forever. I saw tiny neighbor communities come together in crisis to help each other because the Firefighters didn’t have the resources to manage the complexity and ferocity of those first three days. I feel blessed to live in this place and to be able to call these people my friends. I hope every one of you have people like these guys in your life.

hillmuffin
Guest
8 years ago

yeah wog, thanks for moving in here from wherever and ruining the area,
invite more of your friends from wherever, theres still a few bucks more to be made…

Grumpy
Guest
Grumpy
8 years ago

This guy is full of SHIT..The feds are busting everybody they can find trying to get pot out of here,listen to the scanner they where searching cars leaving at the road blocks, now that is a new low even for feds pigs so I too call Bull Shit..and who would smoke this greedy assholes shit weed anyway..