By Josh Cain
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
CASTAIC, Calif. — A trailer fire at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shooting range at their sprawling jail facility in Castaic left two veteran deputies critically injured and threatened to set off unexploded ammunition nearby, officials said Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Sheriff Robert Luna said the two deputies were inside the 53-foot trailer described as a “mobile shooting range” located at the Pitchess Detention Center in the 29300 block of The Old Road when the fire started at around 9:30 a.m.
By the time firefighters with the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived, the injured deputies were already transported by fellow deputies to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.
It took hours for firefighters to douse the blaze inside the trailer. The fire department said they were finally able to knock down the fire by 1:20 p.m.
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Luna said the unexploded ammunition in the trailer hampered both the firefighting effort and the investigation into what caused the fire.
“Unfired ammunition is still within the area of the mobile range and poses extreme danger to investigators and first responders,” Luna said.
“Once the debris have cooled, the investigation will continue.”
The two deputies were the only people inside the trailer when the fire started. Earlier reports indicated four deputies were injured, but Luna confirmed there were only two people injured during the blaze. Officials declined to elaborate on the injuries.
The fire was contained to the trailer where it started, said L.A. County Fire Department Deputy Chief Thomas Ewald. A second trailer next to the first was pulled away to prevent it from also catching fire.
Luna said the Sheriff’s Department was suspending the use of any of its mobile shooting ranges across the county as investigators worked to determine what led to the fire Tuesday.
He said the two deputies injured were longtime Sheriff’s Department veterans, with one deputy serving for 21 years and the other for 17 years.
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