A fire broke out at a warehouse in the Green Meadows neighborhood of Los Angeles Saturday, killing one person inside. Officials allege the building was used to grow marijuana illegally.

The blaze erupted at 1 a.m., and the Los Angeles Fire Department answered an alert 17 minutes later.

The warehouse, which the LAFD described as abandoned, was one-story high. By the time crews arrived, the building was engulfed and the roof had collapsed, officials told KTLA-TV.

The fire was doused by 2:30 a.m., by which time firefighters found what they called an “illegal cannabis operation.” An hour later, they discovered a deceased man in the smoldering structure.

“[We] did not see any placarding from the outside that would indicate that this was a [legal] cannabis [growing] operation, which they should have had. There are multiple different types of chemicals that they use to do this, and some of them could be explosive,” Fire Capt. Adam VanGerpen told KTLA.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.