CAN THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR BE AN INDOOR POT FARM?

It could be the house next door, with a well-kept front yard and
neighbors who are quiet, polite and raise no suspicion.

But there is little furniture inside these San Jose homes. Instead,
there are rows and rows of marijuana plants carefully fed by elaborate
water systems and powered by illegally installed electrical systems
that are prone to short-circuit and cause fires.

In neighborhoods throughout San Jose, drug dealers are converting
single-family homes into urban marijuana gardens capable of generating
millions of dollars in profits. The haphazard wiring and illegal
electrical hookups used in grow houses have sparked eight residential
fires this year in San Jose, according to police.

The large number of fires is reflective of an unprecedented spike in
residential marijuana grow houses in San Jose that police believe is
linked to the rapid growth in medical marijuana dispensaries.

Police have located marijuana gardens of at least 180 plants in 16
homes this year, a staggering increase from previous years, according
to Capt. Larry Ryan.

In some cases, the marijuana growers bypass PG&E meters and
tap directly into main power lines to avoid racking up four-digit
power bills that can expose their operations. They overload electrical
circuits with illegal and unsafe wiring and sometimes knock down
load-bearing walls.

"They try and maximize their profit and are not really concerned with
the damage to the property," said Lt. Brian Ferrante, with the San
Jose police narcotics and covert operations unit. "They walk away with
their profit and leave behind a destroyed home."

The fires have been sparked mostly in homes in East and South San Jose
and have caused an estimated $423,000 in damage. Inside those homes,
police found about 3,030 marijuana plants potentially worth $18
million to $36 million each year, according to law enforcement officials.

One indoor marijuana farm can generate more than $1 million in profit
if harvested three to four times a year, according to police.

And marijuana is not the only illegal drug found inside the homes. San
Jose police seized more than 900 Ecstasy tablets in one home; in
another, more than 3 pounds of methamphetamine.

Before this recent spike in marijuana houses, San Jose police found
just a handful of large indoor operations. Ryan said during his
three-year stint working in narcotics that his unit dealt with just
one.

"What it resembles is the explosion of meth labs in the late '90s,"
Ryan said. "Now we're seeing indoor marijuana grows. That's how I see
the trend changing."

In most of the San Jose cases, the homes are rental properties.
Growers set up shop knowing they need only three to four months before
harvesting the plants.

Ryan says growers use armed guards to protect their investments, which
creates a potentially dangerous scenario for neighbors. This summer, a
man was fatally shot by a resident after breaking into an Antioch home
where marijuana was being grown.

Clusters of marijuana grow houses are popping up in homes throughout
California, according to Bob Cooke, the South Bay's special agent in
charge of the state Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics. Cooke said
his agency has seen organized efforts by groups looking to take
advantage of the fragile housing market. Earlier this year, law
enforcement agents arrested seven people in the Sacramento area on
suspicion of operating two large indoor marijuana farms.

And the quality of marijuana being grown indoors is superior to the
product that comes from outdoors.

The indoor growers are "really like horticulturists. They're growing
some of the best marijuana and selling to the highest bidder," Cooke
said.

The first fire this year that was sparked by a marijuana grow house
occurred Jan. 19, when about 400 plants were found in a home on
Edgebank Drive near Tully and Quimby roads. As firefighters attacked a
blaze discovered in the attic, they found marijuana plants being grown
in five bedrooms.

The largest marijuana garden discovered as the result of a fire was
found on July 13 at Sugar Maple Drive, near Snell Avenue and Skyway
Drive. A neighbor was outside when he heard popping sounds and saw
lights flickering inside the home, then spotted smoke coming from the
electric meter.

The most recent fire was sparked in August on Plainfield Drive, near
Branham Lane and Monterey Highway. Firefighters determined that the
blaze was sparked by a PG&E meter that had been tampered with. Inside,
firefighters found 170 marijuana plants.

Steven Vu, who lives across the street, said it's "kind of scary" to
know neighbors were growing marijuana in mass quantities. Vu said the
people who were residing in the house were there for about four months
and he would sometimes see them watering the front lawn.

"They seemed somewhat friendly," Vu said.