Local News in Brief : County to Pay $351,692 for Toxic Training Site
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Los Angeles County supervisors voted Thursday to buy a $351,692 site in the Newhall area to build a hazardous-materials training center for county firefighters.
The 160-acre training area will feature realistic-looking industrial and nautical props that can be set ablaze to simulate real chemical and petroleum fires, county fire officials said.
They said the land is in a remote area away from homes near the community of Val Verde. The site is owned by Century Production Inc.
County Fire Chief John W. Englund said the training center will replace a 1 1/2-acre petroleum firefighting drill site that firefighters have rented from Century since 1959.
The new facility will eventually have classrooms and permanent props, Englund said.
He said his department is negotiating with five major oil companies about creating a nonprofit corporation to help develop the training site and keep it supplied with props.
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