300 Marijuana Plants Found in Burning House : Crime: Firefighters responding to a Garden Grove roof fire find the drug growing in virtually every room. Two men are being sought by police.

Firefighters responding to a roof fire Tuesday found the house filled with marijuana plants growing in every room, police said.

“This was very top-notch stuff,” Garden Grove Police Sgt. Scott Watson said of the 300 plants. “It’s by far the most sophisticated operation we’ve ever seen.”

The resident who called the fire department to the 11600 block of Gilbert Street at 11:15 a.m. refused to let them in and ran out the back door, police said. They stormed inside and discovered rows of four-foot-tall plants in virtually every room.

“There were plants throughout the bedrooms, the bathrooms, in the living room and throughout the garage,” Watson said.

The crops had overhead lighting, ventilation ducts, and cooling and irrigation systems with timers, police said.

Police investigators later arrived at the house with a search warrant and dismantled the operation.

Watson valued the plants at “hundreds of thousands of dollars. We haven’t even begun to calculate what it’s worth.”

The three-bedroom house was largely unfurnished, with no beds or chairs, Watson said. There were several desks to store equipment for the operation, he said.

“This wasn’t a setup for living; it was set up for growing marijuana,” he said. “I don’t think anyone was living at the house during the whole time.”

The fire apparently was not related to the cultivation, and fire officials are investigating the cause of the flames, Watson said.

Police said they are searching for two men, one of whom called fire officials and then fled. Police declined to release their names.