A North Park man growing his own marijuana plants in an apartment garage was burned trying to put out a fire near the small grow operation officials said.

Several residents called 911 to report the garage fire at Alabama and Lincoln just after 6 a.m.

Neighbor Ronald Portis said he saw heard noises around 5:30 a.m. and started alerting his neighbors.

“That fire was hot, it was so orange it lit up the whole alley,” he said.

Officials evacuated residents while firefighters battled the fire. They knocked down the blaze in just a few minutes.

The man living in the apartment burned his hands trying to put out the fire himself officials said.

He was interviewed by fire investigators about the cause of the fire.

“We are investigating the grow and the legality of it as he does state to have a certificate to be allowed to have that grow,” said Lt. Joseph Ramos with San Diego police.

A number of very hot lights were all plugged into the same outlet Ramos said.

Fire investigators believe the cause to be an overloaded electrical outlet.

Ramos wanted to remind people to avoid overloading outlets especially when there are other tenants and their homes at risk.

The garage and a nearby parked vehicle were destroyed in the fire.