Firefighters Didn’t Dally, Agency Decides

After conducting its own investigation, the Orange County Fire Authority on Tuesday rejected the allegation by a Yorba Linda couple that firefighters had deliberately delayed putting out the blaze that destroyed their home in December.

Jeff and Tricia James originally voiced their complaints at Orange County Board of Supervisors and Yorba Linda City Council meetings three months after the fire.

They said firefighters were slow in responding to their 911 call and waited almost an hour before putting water on the Dec. 7 blaze that eventually consumed their $1.1-million home. The couple said the unionized Orange County firefighters took their time after they discovered that Jeff James was an engineer at a nonunion fire department in the Los Angeles County city of Vernon.

On Tuesday, the Jameses said they had not yet read the report of the investigation but were not surprised by its findings. “It was a foregone conclusion,” Jeff James said. The report “was done by some of the people who were on the fire and some of the people who work in that fire department. No one can call it truly independent.”

Of the 10-person investigation team, five members were on the scene in support roles, according to Fire Authority officials.

Battalion Chief Ed Fleming said it was normal practice for an internal team to look into tactical and operational issues. The team evaluated the firefighting strategy and tactics, times from computer-aided dispatch and telephone and radio recordings, he said.

“It was all quite objective because of all of the data that was available,” Fleming said.

On Tuesday, the Jameses appeared to back away from their earlier allegation of union wrongdoing, focusing instead on the alleged delay itself and what they called the lack of independent review of their case.

“I think what was going to happen was going to happen whether it was us or someone else,” Jeff James said. “When they found out it was me, it was a bonus.”

The Fire Authority hired a private investigator to look into the union wrongdoing allegation, as well as whether a firefighter had used Jeff James’ Vernon Fire Department T-shirt to wipe down the foyer floor. The report concluded that both allegations were unfounded.

The internal report did agree that the incident report was delayed, vague and incomplete because the couple did not receive their copy until Jan. 18 and it did not state the fire’s cause and resulting damage.

The report released Tuesday concluded that the fire was probably caused accidentally by a faulty water heater.

The couple said they planned to ask for a review by a state fire marshal of their case and other recent devastating fires in Yorba Linda.