The Southland Firestorm: A Special Report : The Firefighters : On The Fire Line : THE INNER-CITY CREW : ‘It Was Kind of Our Moment of Truth’

They may have been tired, but no one was talking of heading back home.

Made up primarily of former gang members, the South-Central Panthers--an on-call firefighting unit used by the U.S. Forest Service--are no strangers to danger. But the perils once faced on the streets by the crew’s 37 members pale in comparison to the situations some of them encountered in the last two weeks. Nature, the Panthers found, can be a more formidable force than any rival gang.

Since Oct. 27, 19 members of the unit have been helping the Forest Service battle the blazes that have scorched the Altadena and Sierra Madre areas. Officially designated South-Central 1 by the Forest Service, the unit has put in 15-hour days digging trenches, cutting firebreaks and dousing the smoldering rooftops of million-dollar homes.

“I was a little nervous at first,” said Zelia Murphy, 24, who worked 36 consecutive hours after the fires broke out in Altadena. “But . . . we’ve held the fire.”

Five months ago, the Panthers were a disorganized group of unemployed young men--and one woman--to whom $9 to $11.30 an hour sounded promising. The program was a cooperative effort among the U.S. Forest Service, the Crenshaw-based Los Angeles Unemployed Council and the city’s Housing Authority.

The current mobilization is the 15th time for the Panthers since completing a two-week Forest Service training course in June.

Because many had been members of rival gangs, they had to learn to work together, sometimes in life-or-death situations. Forest Service Capt. Mark Gloss, who oversaw the training, said there was some initial tension, but a spirit of teamwork quickly took root.

“During our work now, they yell at each other, but not with any hostility,” he said. “They’re just making sure they’re getting the work done. That’s their No. 1 concern.”

Gloss recalled how one Panther hurt his knee, “but he refused to stay in camp. He didn’t want to miss anything.”

With the fires largely contained, the unit is concentrating now on rehabilitation work on the charred hillsides. They spent Thursday in the Angeles National Forest--sandbagging, establishing trails and shifting rocks to lessen the impact of future landslides. Meanwhile, they remain on standby in case flames flare up.

“When we first got here last week, when the first round of fires were at their peak, it was pretty scary,” Gloss said. “The winds were heavy, and it was just plain dangerous. It was kind of our moment of truth.”

Gloss said the area’s steep terrain, with its severe drop-offs and jagged rocks, has made it difficult to maneuver, particularly for urban dwellers such as the Panthers, who are unfamiliar with such turf.

“But they’ve been very heads-up, very determined,” he said. “The division bosses out here have been very impressed.”

Pat Milford, a Van Nuys resident whose son and a family friend are part of the crew, said their work makes her apprehensive.

“We don’t hear from them for days,” she noted. “All I see is the fires on TV, the report that someone got hurt, and I go crazy. When this whole program started, and they talked about firefighting, I said, ‘Yeah, right.’ I guess I didn’t believe they’d actually go up there.”