MARIJUANA FARM FOUND BY FIREFIGHTERS

RED BLUFF, Calif.--Firefighters working on an 8,200-acre wildfire in
Northern California discovered a marijuana plantation that officers
estimated was worth about $25 million.

Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker said agents removed more than 5,100
marijuana plants, ready for harvest, from the plantation in the
Mendocino National Forest on Monday. Agents also found about 15,000
pounds of processed marijuana with a street value of about $75,000, he
said.

The plantation was in a rugged, steep and sparsely populated area, and
was discovered by firefighters using bulldozers to carve a line around
the fire, he said.

U.S. Forest Service agents on patrol near the wildfire Tuesday stopped
a car that was later found to be loaded with harvested marijuana,
Parker said. The two men traveling in the car fled and haven't been
found, he said. A nearby camp that officials suspect belonged to the
marijuana farmers was abandoned, probably due to the wildfire, he said.

No arrests have been made, and Parker said there were no suspects.