Ted Rowlands CNN Reporter

LOS ANGELES (CNN)—Dry conditions and strong winds have wreaked havoc on firefighters battling wildfires in California.

Tens of thousands of acres have been burning for over a week in Southern California’s Santa Barbara County.

The 87-thousand acre wildfire burning in the Los Padres National Forest started, authorities say by a Mexican marijuana growers cooking fire.

Investigators found pot plants near the fire’s origin, and evidence it was an operation run by a Mexican national drug organization.

Authorities believe the pot growers are still in the forest, most likely armed and trying to find their way out without getting caught.

Growing marijuana in national forests in California is nothing new.

Of the 5.2 million pot plants seized last year 70 percent were on public land.

The dense canopy of trees in the national forests affords growers a perfect hiding spot from air patrols.

This summer CNN’s Randi Kaye went along with authorities on a raid of one of these operations in the same forest where fire is now burning.

They found more than 7000 plants.

“We believe it’s the cartels from Mexico. We find receipts, we find, sometimes books. We’ve made arrests in some of the grows,” said Capt. Derek West of the Ventura county sheriff’s department.

While growing pot in national forests has been going on for years, this is the first time investigators say that a fire has started because of it.

Authorities say typically these growers never use fire because the smoke could blow their cover. They’re hoping that this doesn’t become a trend.