Deputies find 800 pot plants inside fire-damaged Hayward home

A fire at a home in Hayward led to the discovery of what authorities called a substantial marijuana grow operation.

Neighbors on Beckham Way said they had no idea what was going on inside 3,000-square-foot home until Thursday afternoon.

As many as 800 marijuana plants, some ready for harvest, were growing in three separate rooms of the house under high-power lights, authorities said.

Some of the rooms had as many as 16 lights, and the marijuana was in various stages of growth, said Alameda County Sheriff Sgt. Brett Schuller.

Schuller said the growers had rewired the electrical system to avoid paying high PG&E bills and that caused the fire.

"It looks like it was directly related to the PG&E being bypassed in the garage, which is common in the marijuana grows where they'll cut into the PG&E before it hits the meter," Schuller said.

Authorities were looking for a couple who had rented the house for the past year.

Neighbors said there were no signs or smells that it was a marijuana grow house.

"I never saw anything come out of the house," said Dale Toussaint, a neighbor. "I never saw bales or anything that would lead me to believe that there was anything going on there."

The sheriff's department is handling the investigation, as the house is in an unincorporated area.

Deputies said they are finding more and more of these marijuana grow houses in residential neighborhoods.

"There's many dangers that go along with these operations, one of them being fire and another one being a home invasion robbery," Schuller said.

From what deputies found inside the house, Schuller said there were indications that several crops of marijuana were grown there over several months.

Fire damage was estimated at $225,000. The marijuana is valued at $800,000.