Fire destroys historic Los Angeles Poor Farm buildings

DOWNEY, Calif. (AP) — Fire departments say a fire has destroyed more of the historic Los Angeles County Poor Farm. The Downey Fire Department announced Thursday that the fire on the vacant south campus of the Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center has been put out. The sprawling campus opened in 1888, offering ranch work and medical care to disabled, ill, elderly and homeless people. It became a hospital for chronic illnesses until the 1950s, when a polio epidemic turned it into a rehabilitation center. The property is split by Imperial Highway. KCAL-TV reports the abandoned buildings on the south side have been plagued by vandalism.