Residential Fire Reveals Marijuana Grow House
NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE (CBSMiami) — Miami-Dade Police and Fire Department responded to a residential fire on Saturday near Miami Gardens, but after the fire was out, they discovered the home wasn't a typical residence.
"I saw all these trucks and the fire department, police everywhere," said a neighbor who wanted to be identified only as "Junior."
Firefighters said they arrived to find smoke coming from the meter box and determined the fire was electrical.
"Once we secured, there were no victims inside," said Battalion Chief Kevin Martin. "With the electrical activity we basically went to a defensive posture until FPL could come shut down the house."
"They cut the electricity and we missed the game," added Junior as he missed the World Cup match.
But the scene outside proved to be just as entertaining.
Police said firefighters discovered a fully operational grow house. Neighbors told CBS4's Maggie Newland they never even suspected it was used as anything other than a residence.
"Pretty baffled by the fact that what was going on in the house," said neighbor Alan Rodriguez.
No one really seemed to know the person renting the house, neighbors said. They added that they never saw or smelled anything unusual.
"I guess the guy was that good at hiding it," said Rodriguez.
Police say they found more than 300 marijuana plants inside the house.. Of those, police say 250 were "clones" or very immature plants.
Watch Maggie Newland's report, click here.
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