A house fire led to the discovery of a marijuana grow operation, according to Sacramento Fire spokesperson Roberto Padilla. Two people were arrested following the discovery, Sacramento County sheriff's spokesperson Lisa Bowman said.
Lichan Li, 58, and Xiquan Li, 62, were both charged with felony reckless burning of an occupied structure and misdemeanor theft of power. Both were booked into the Main Jail.
Padilla said at around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, firefighters were called to the 4700 block of Center Parkway on reports of heavy smoke coming from a single family home.
Firefighters went into aggressive attack mode to stop the flames from spreading. Padilla said that as firefighters knocked the fire down, they found marijuana growing in the back.
"We were taking a hose and trying to do help and do anything to try to slow the fire down until the fire department comes," Mike Bruins, who was working on repairing the air conditioner in the house next door, said. "(We saw) some grow lights and the pot operation (and) didn't feel as bad."
The cause of the fire was under investigation Padilla said.
No other houses were damaged and no one was hurt.
Witnesses said they saw the flames and went to wake up the residents of the home.
"We knew that the neighbors were there because we saw them earlier," Bruins said. "So we went and busted out the windows and knocked on the doors and finally they came out."
