SANFORD, Fla. -- Sanford police wanted to make a drug bust early Saturday morning. They didn't make an arrest but did accidentally burn down a house.

When police searched the Sanford home, they say they found no one inside. But before entering, they threw diversionary devices inside. Soon after, the house was on fire. Neighbors say the house was engulfed in flames and they are scared that it happened near them.

The house, at 901 Orange Avenue in Sanford, is unlivable. There was no one inside at the time the house was on fire.

---

ON THE SCENE: Images From Drug Bust House Fire

---

"The fire spread throughout the house and the house was consumed within just a few minutes," Darrel Presly of the Sanford Police Department said.

Police had to get out of the home. Neighbors say it was a massive blaze and they were told to stay inside their houses.

"They just stood there looking it like ain't nothing happened. They just sitting like this, telling everyone to stay in their house, like nothing happened and all that. Like a big old red thing," neighbor Juwan Stile said.

Some neighbors told us it took too long for the fire department to arrive. The house is a total loss. The state fire marshal has been called in to investigate the cause of the fire.