Lab Evacuated Amid False Alarm
A false alarm caused the temporary evacuation of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s crime laboratory shortly before noon Tuesday, county officials said.
The alarm, attached to the lab’s halon gas dispenser, went off at 11:55 a.m., said Renee Artman, interim manager for the lab.
Halon gas is used to extinguish fires.
Lab workers spent about 40 minutes outdoors as firefighters from the Ventura City Fire Department searched for a gas leak, Artman said.
“They didn’t find a gas leak, and we don’t know what triggered the alarm,” she said.
“The alarm has been disabled and the service company will come to examine it [today].”
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