Suspect Refuses to Testify for Grand Jury : Inquiry: Nicholas A. Durepo declines to answer questions during five-minute appearance in arson case. Dozens of firefighters lend support.

One of two firefighters named as suspected arsonists in last fall’s deadly Calabasas/Malibu fire and a friend with whom he had spoken a few hours after the blaze started appeared before the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on Monday.

Nicholas A. Durepo spent about five minutes before the grand jury, declining to answer any questions on the advice of his lawyer. Durepo, 24, and Steven R. Shelp, 29, have been identified by Sheriff’s Department investigators as suspects in the Nov. 2 blaze that killed three people, destroyed 350 homes and caused more than $375 million in damage before it was brought under control.

Durepo, Shelp and at least four witnesses were spirited out a back door at the end of the grand jury proceeding to avoid reporters waiting in a hallway of the county Criminal Courts Building. Shelp attended the session to lend support to Durepo, according to friends, and is scheduled to go before the grand jury today.

Sheriff’s investigators have said the two men--volunteer firefighters at the time--started the fire so they could put it out with a garden hose and be rewarded with firefighting jobs. The men have not been arrested or charged in connection with the fire.

A few months after the blaze, Shelp became a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department, although he has been placed on administrative duty until the investigation is completed. Durepo has been taken off active volunteer duty with the Manhattan Beach Fire Department.

Both men have maintained their innocence, contending that they happened upon the fire and made a vain attempt to put it out with the help of a “plumber” who happened to drive by. Although both have remained silent, a lawyer for Durepo said Monday that his client and Shelp are victims of an overzealous and sloppy prosecution.

Authorities “are still conducting their hearings, but hopefully this thing is going to terminate pretty quickly,” said the lawyer, Donald J. Calabria. “Really, I don’t know why they are even going further, but I don’t know what evidence that they have.

“What is so bothersome is that they are trying to find someone who started a fire when they are not even sure that someone started a fire,” Calabria said.

Calabria said his client and Shelp provided authorities with information about the mysterious plumber--who turned out to be an underground contractor--including what he was wearing. But the attorney said homicide investigators concluded their investigation without finding and interviewing the man. Finally, Robert Blakeley came forward last week after his photograph was published in The Times and corroborated parts of the firefighters’ story.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Sally Thomas had no comment on the investigation or the grand jury proceedings. Authorities have said the two failed lie detector tests, provided questionable accounts of their whereabouts on the day of the fire and offered other statements considered dubious, according to sources.

Durepo’s friend, Scott Safechuck, testified before the grand jury Monday about discussions he had with Durepo the evening after the fire broke out. Safechuck left the proceeding without talking to reporters. But his father, Frank Safechuck, contended that his son has filed a complaint against a sheriff’s investigator who harassed him for corroborating part of Durepo’s story. The Sheriff’s Department refused to comment.

Several dozen firefighters who said they know Shelp and Durepo also showed up to lend support.

Capt. Jackson King of the La Habra Heights Fire Department said the two men worked for him while they were volunteers several years ago. “When you eat next to somebody and work with them for two years, you know them,” he said. “They are straight-up guys, honest and sincere. We believe in them.”

Bill Mount, Durepo’s training officer at the South Bay Fire Academy, said he supports his friend.

“I believe him,” Mount said. “I believe when the truth surfaces, there’ll be some embarrassed people.”