State Cites Pasadena Fire Department : Safety: Cal/OSHA finds improper training and equipping of personnel during last fall’s wildfires. City says it will correct the problems.

After a three-month investigation, state safety officials have cited the Pasadena Fire Department for improperly training and equipping firefighters, including failing to provide firefighters with personal fire shields during a devastating blaze in October.

The safety problems, which resulted in citations Thursday, also have sparked a claim by a former city inspector that he was fired after telling supervisors about the alleged deficiencies.

The city has 30 days to take action to correct the eight citations issued by the State Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

Cal/OSHA spokesman Rick Rice said Friday the state agency cannot fine a public fire department. But if a private facility had the same violations, it could have been fined as much as $56,000, he said.

“They could significantly impact on the safety or life of an employee,” Rice said. “They’re serious violations.”

Pasadena Councilman William M. Paparian, chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, said he has ordered City Manager Philip A. Hawkey to prepare a report on the Cal/OSHA investigation.

Fire officials said the department is working to correct the problems. They blamed record-keeping for many of the violations. Firefighters had received adequate training but the training was not properly documented, they said.

“Obviously, there are areas we need to pay attention to, particularly record-keeping,” Fire Chief Kaya Pekerol said. “I was pleased there were no serious problems.”

These violations were cited:

* Firefighters had not been provided with fire shields when fighting brush fires.

* The Fire Department did not properly train all firefighters in techniques to avoid injury when battling wildfires, including proper deployment of fire shields.

* The department did not properly train all firefighters for rescues in confined spaces and trenches, where collapse is a possibility. Nor did the department have a written safety program addressing all the hazards faced by firefighters.

* The department failed to replace protective clothing that had become worn or had holes that could get caught on branches or other objects and prevent a firefighter from escaping advancing flames.

* The department did not properly inform firefighters of the dangers of and precautions in handling fire-retardant or chemicals encountered in the field.

Cal/OSHA began its investigation last April after an unidentified firefighter filed a complaint, said Fire Capt. John Tennant, president of the Pasadena Firefighters Assn.

One of the most significant violations was the failure to distribute the fire shields during the Oct. 27 fire, which burned 5,700 acres and 123 homes in the Altadena and Pasadena area.

Pekerol said his department had the shelters in storage but they were not issued, largely because a Fire Department committee had not approved their use.

“We had no injuries and only lost two homes (in Pasadena) and 500 homes were in the face of the fire so we did something right,” Pekerol said.

But Tennant said the situation could have turned deadly.

Meanwhile, a claim is pending against Pasadena alleging that the city’s safety officer, George Leverette, was fired for pointing out the safety problems to Hawkey, Pekerol and other top city officials.

City officials have said Leverette was dismissed from his $49,000-a-year job on June 3 for failing to first report problems to his immediate supervisor.