CRENSHAW : Former Gang Rivals Unite to Fight Fire

The South Central Panthers, the on-call firefighting unit largely made up of former rival gang members, has finally gotten its feet wet.

Wet feet were actually the least of it. Over the last two weeks, the Panthers have helped drench more than 42,000 acres of burning brush and forest near Lake Cachuma in the Los Padres National Forest, about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara. Although most of the 37 Panthers have had firefighting experience since training with the U.S. Forest Service in June, the recent outing was their longest and most challenging, said Tom Harbour, forest fire management officer.

“They’ve done great,” said Harbour, speaking of the 18 Panthers who answered the call two weeks ago and returned to Los Angeles Friday. “This was the first time these guys have worked outside of L.A. County. They did a great job assisting the 3,000 or so regular firefighters, from putting out the fire to cleaning up at the end.”

Until the latest stint, the Panthers’ firefighting experience had been limited to battling smaller conflagrations in the Angeles National Forest.

The Panthers underwent two weeks of training early this summer as part of a program sponsored by the Crenshaw-based Los Angeles Unemployed Council in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles Housing Authority.

Many of the 37 trainees were gang members from rival sets who quickly learned to work together on the neutral turf of forests and for a common purpose, said Ron Lamount, executive director of the Unemployed Council.

“This last experience has been really good for them in terms of getting skills under their belt,” said Lamount, who is also the Panthers’ crew management officer. “They need the long-term experience if they want to be considered for permanent positions within the Forest Service. They need to get on a par with regular personnel as quickly as possible.”

Harbour said the Forest Service anticipates hiring full-timers from the ranks of the Panthers.

“We’re encouraging everyone to show interest in pursuing this type of work,” said Harbour. “This fire has given us the opportunity to really see whether that interest is there.”