Up In Smoke: Cops Find 50 Pot Plants In Bergen House Following Fire

Paramus police discovered 50 marijuana plants growing at a Paramus home early Thursday morning following a two-alarm fire, authorities said.

Several firefighters and police officers responded to the blaze at 34 North Fairview Ave. just after 2 a.m., Paramus Police Chief Kenneth R. Ehrenberg said.

Police and fire personnel found the garage fully engulfed in flames and the fire was extending into the main part of the house; two residents were trying to extinguish the fire with a garden hose, Ehrenberg said.

Several Paramus firefighters from engines 1, 2, 3, trucks 1 and 4, and the rescue company extinguished the fire in 30 minutes, police said.

Police found 50 marijuana plants in the home’s basement when they went in to remove two other residents, Ehrenberg said. The plants ranged in size from several inches to three feet tall. Police also found harvested marijuana in the house.

Four people were arrested and charged with sale the manufacture of marijuana:

• Chet Weaver, 47
• Cody Hill, 28
• Steven Burton, 44
• Zachery Hill, 34

Weaver was also charged with possession of cocaine.

The men were processed at Paramus Police Headquarter and released on $10,000 bail each.

(Pictured: A Paramus police officer with the marijuana found in the house. Zachery Hill, 34; Steven Burton, 44; Cody Hill, 28; and Chet Weaver, 47/Courtesy of the Paramus Police Department)