Vacated day care will become firefighter training ground
Public invited to watch

The Ventura County Fire Department will conduct daylong training exercises from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, March 8, at 3802 Avenida Simi, Simi Valley. As part of the training, the department will burn the structure at that address.

The 3,000-square-foot building is owned by the city of Simi Valley and was last used as a day-care center. Since then, the Simi Valley Police Department and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department have also used the structure for training.

During the day, a number of fires will be started within the building to allow the fire attack crews to practice with actual burning conditions.

Additional crews will be on the roof to practice ventilation techniques that are used to allow smoke and gases to escape from a burning structure.

"It's a rare opportunity when firefighters get to train under actual fire conditions," said division Chief Mike LaPlant. "A training burn like this allows our firefighters to study fire behavior and experience the heat and smoke conditions that occur in structure fires. It's as close as we can come to reproducing a working structure fire under controlled conditions."

Residences and businesses in the immediate area may experience some unusual smoke or noise conditions, and the department requests the public's understanding.

"We know this type of training can be an inconvenience to our neighbors," said LaPlant, "But the lessons our firefighters learn under these real world conditions can help to save lives and property in the future."

The public is invited to watch the activity but will be asked to remain back from the training itself for safety reasons.