LOS ANGELES — Four people we injured among them two deputies after a fire explosion erupted in Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. Two of the wounded are in critical condition.
On Tuesday October 10, a trailer caught on fire at the Pitches Detention Center in Castaic injured two sheriff’s deputies.
The two were spearheading a training activity on a mobile shooting range when the incident occurred at around 9.30 a.m.
“Their condition is stable, but they remain in critical condition due to injuries primarily related to burns. Importantly, no surgical intervention has been required at this time,” said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) in a statement.
Both deputies were rushed to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. However, they have moved to Los Angeles County General Hospital
Neither of the officials has been identified thus far. “Both are veterans of the department. One is said to have 21 years of service at the North County Correctional Facility, while the other has 17 years of service at the Sylmar Court House,” said LASD.
“The other two individuals wounded suffered minor injuries,” said authorities.
The response team arrived at the scene at around 9.40 a.m. to what they described as an outdoor fire.
“The Pitchess Detention Center is a prison, but also a training facility for Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputies. The facility was placed on lockdown despite authorities indicating that there was no threat to the inmate population,” read a statement from LASD.
“It’s used for shooting practice and re-certification every four months. Each trailer typically has two firing lanes within them,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna during a press conference.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department described what happened as a “training incident.” “It was a training incident,” said Luna.
“Investigators were unable to get close to the scene due to the fire burning the trailer, which had ammunition inside, as well as sound proofing material that is considered to be highly flammable,” read the statement.
It took approximately four hours for the fire to be extinguished by the crews.
“While firefighters battled the flames that broke out on the mobile range trailer, the Pitchess Detention Center was under lockdown as a precautionary measure. The blaze did not pose a threat to inmates,” said the officials.
Moreover, all mobile shooting range facilities have been temporarily shut down as precautionary measure.
“We don’t want this to happen again, so we need to know why it happened and get to the bottom of it, so we prevent it from happening again,” said Sheriff Luna.
Edited by Judy J. Rotich and Newsdesk Manager
