You’d think jumping through all the i502 hoops would be enough stress for one grower to deal with, but with wildfires spreading through the state, one outdoor grower ended up with an even bigger headache.

Columbia River Cannabis, an outdoor grow based in Bridgeport (east of Seattle), lost about half of the mother plants it was planning to bring in and cultivate when it finishes up licensing.

The recent fires near Pateros and Brewster burned several of their plants, although Harold Jarboe, the marketing director, said he feels much worse for the residents in those towns whose homes burned down.

“We just feel terrible for those people,” Jarboe said. “We did not get burned out like them. We had some fire damage and we lost some plants, but there was no structure damage. It was just really scary.”

That didn’t stop employees from trying to salvage what they could, he added.

“As the fire was raging we got some cuttings from a bunch of them,” Jarboe said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to regrow from those.”

Still, the company’s not feeling too thwarted. It’s a long process, and if they have to start some strains from seed, that’s what they’ll do, Jarboe said.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We’re going to try to have a fall crop, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Only about 100 growers have been licensed by the state so far out of more than 3,500. Columbia River Cannabis is in the queue for inspection, but hasn’t gotten that far yet.

Despite all that, Jarboe said he thinks the Washington State Liquor Control Board is doing the best it can with limited resources.

“This is just one of those things you have to deal with,” Jarboe said.