Chief’s Report Defends Firefighters’ Readiness at Onset of Riots : Public safety: The study concludes department personnel were battle-ready but hampered by events beyond their control, such as inadequate security.

Attempting to dispel notions that his department was unprepared for the spring riots, Los Angeles City Fire Chief Donald O. Manning on Wednesday released an exhaustive report concluding that firefighters were battle-ready but hampered by events beyond their control.

Manning said during a City Hall news conference that he was releasing the unprecedented 323-page analysis by arson investigators to counter assertions in recent reports--including one by the Webster Commission--that city agencies had failed to anticipate or adequately plan for the unrest that resulted in nearly 50 deaths.

“I was miffed that the Webster report didn’t properly identify the activities of the Fire Department,” Manning said. “By identifying that the city was not prepared lumped us into that.”

The report--”A Historical Overview of the Civil Disturbance”--states that not only did the Fire Department have an emergency plan but that it had been under review “only hours” before the not guilty verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating trial triggered three days of looting and arson.

One month prior to the riot, according to the report, the Fire Department created an ad hoc committee to prepare contingency plans in the event of a major civil disturbance. “This preparation . . . mitigated this tragic event from becoming a disaster of even more catastrophic proportion,” the report concluded.

Many of the emergency procedures put into effect, the report added, were first instituted after the 1965 Watts riots.

The report said the agency’s “unacceptable delays” in responding to the hundreds of fires that raged throughout the city resulted from the failure of Los Angeles Police Department officials to provide protective escorts. Nearly four hours elapsed before escorts were made available on a consistent basis, according to the report.

Escorts were crucial because of the extreme dangers firefighters faced as they attempted to battle fires. In all, 59 firefighters were injured during the riots, including four wounded by gunfire.

“Within the first three hours . . . there were over a dozen documented accounts of attempts to kill firefighters and paramedics,” the report said. “A firefighter was shot in the face; a member was assaulted by a pick-headed ax; a light force was assaulted by gang members wielding AK-47s; and several ambulances and fire apparatus were struck by gunfire.”

Among preparations that the department said it will take in the event of more violence will be the purchase of body armor for firefighters and an agreement with the California Highway Patrol to provide escorts in the absence of LAPD security.

In addition, plans are being developed to use Dodger Stadium as a base of operations during a major emergency because of its “secure, centrally located” accommodations, Manning said.

The report also found that:

* Eight fire stations were vandalized during the disturbances, including one that was fired on, and more than 100 pieces of apparatus were reported lost, damaged or stolen.

* The Department of Water and Power estimated that about 50 million gallons of water were used to suppress fires throughout the city. The runoff that entered the city’s storm drain system (and eventually discharged into the Pacific Ocean) was untreated. However, a determination of the exact runoff and level of contamination was not made because it was felt unsafe to dispatch monitors.

* Of about 2,000 building sites damaged during the riots, 160 were found to contain hazardous materials and/or asbestos. All of the sites were posted and hazardous wastes were removed and properly disposed of.