On a recent Wednesday morning, white smoke billowing out of a stack of shipping containers on Point Reyes Station’s Commodore Webster Drive carried a sweet, unexpected scent. The smoke wasn’t real smoke but burning sugar and glycol—a harmless mix that is used to simulate the disorienting conditions of a structure fire. From a safe distance, a group of San Geronimo Valley residents watched as firefighters disappeared into the makeshift training tower.
The spectacle was…