ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, December 25, 1996           TAG: 9612260058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-8  EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK

POT OPERATION IS UP IN SMOKE

Responding to reports of smoke at a Roanoke storage building Monday night, firefighters found more than just a fire.

They discovered a large marijuana-growing operation behind a hidden door in the building in the 700 block of East Church Avenue, police said Tuesday.

After using fans to move dense smoke out of the building's second floor, firefighters found more than 100 marijuana plants

A vice detective who was called to the scene found that most of the marijuana plants had been heavily damaged by the heat from the fire.

The 9 p.m. fire apparently started outside the building when someone working on a car accidentally ignited the gas tank, authorities said.

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