State Report Offers Ways to Better Fight Fires : Safety: Officials echo local task force’s recommendations for proper training and high-tech equipment and prevention efforts by homeowners.

Despite communications failures and firefighting crews who arrived poorly equipped and inadequately trained for such a massive disaster, the battle against wildfires in Laguna Beach and elsewhere last fall was remarkably effective, according to a state review issued Friday.

With recent fires in San Luis Obispo and the Sierra, fire and emergency officials recommended hefty spending on training and high-technology communications equipment--and better prevention by homeowners--to stem a new, explosive generation of brush fires fed by 50-year-old tinder and years of drought.

“California’s firefighting systems are unmatched anywhere in the world,” said Richard Andrews, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “But as the current fire season has already demonstrated, years of drought have combined with high temperatures and winds to a dangerous level of risk throughout the state.”

Andrews, joined by Orange County Fire Chief Larry J. Holms and six other federal, state and local officials, issued the report at the base of Malibu hillsides scorched during the deadliest of last year’s Southland fires.

The series of fires required the largest effort in the 44-year history of the state’s mutual-aid system--involving more than 15,000 firefighters to battle 22 fires that covered nearly 200,000 acres across six counties, according to the report. The Laguna Beach and Ortega Highway fires in Orange County burned nearly 40,000 acres and destroyed or damaged more than 400 homes.

The 38-page report cited communications failures that made it impossible for firefighting units to talk to one another and confusion over how to deploy an overwhelming flow of incoming firefighters to the Malibu, Altadena, Laguna Beach and Ortega Highway fires. Some out-of-state crews showed up with no tools, and other firefighters simply had not been trained for disasters on such a large scale, the report said.

Donald O. Manning, chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department, called for spending tens of millions of dollars on new training and high-technology equipment, such as systems that bounce signals off satellites.

Holms said he has not studied the report, which lumped all the fires together as one and did not separately analyze response to the Orange County blazes.

A review last winter of the Orange County blazes echoed the need for improved communications and called for portable pumps for firetrucks and new helicopters capable of dropping water. The county in June began leasing a helicopter capable of dumping 360 gallons of water at a time. Holms said it has already seen a lot of action.

A county task force formed by Holms last year is scheduled to present a package of fire-prevention and firefighting recommendations on Tuesday to the County Board of Supervisors.

The state’s report did suggest ways to avert some of the problems that hindered Orange County firefighters, such as drops in water pressure that reduced the flow through hoses to a trickle, even though millions of gallons were available in nearby reservoirs. The report recommended better coordination with local water districts and suggested that firefighting helicopters scoop water last from reservoirs at higher elevations to keep up water pressure through gravity. It also recommended the use of uniform hydrant connections so all fire hoses will fit. Some crews arrived in Orange County to find their hoses did not fit local hydrants.

The report praised the ability of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to coordinate dozens of police agencies through a strategy of special platoons and noted that the idea is under study by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Emergency officials disputed criticisms that it took too long to launch water-dropping National Guard cargo airplanes, saying the planes are overrated and there were too few to go around, in any event.

But Andrews announced a new agreement between state and federal officials that cuts in half the amount of time required to put the two California-based C-130 tanker planes in the air.

Officials said it takes about 24 hours to call in flight and maintenance crews and change fuel tanks and seal the planes so they can carry water and chemical flame retardant. Under the new accord, the planes will be converted ahead of time whenever weather conditions indicate high fire risk. That would enable the planes to fly within 13 hours.

Orange County also stands to benefit from an effort by Los Angeles County fire officials to acquire the “Super Scooper” plane, which can dip 1,600 gallons of seawater in 12 seconds. Los Angeles County is seeking funding for a test of the Canadair CL-415 this fall.

But Holms and other officials cautioned that improvements in firefighting equipment and strategy are only part of the answer. Homeowners must do more to protect against the buildup of dry brush that explodes during fires, they said. Residents need to plant fire-resistant plants and clear bushes around homes, they said.

Richard Wilson, director of the California Department of Forestry, called for clearing or controlled burning of 1 million acres a year--an idea unpopular with environmentalists and others. The state cleared 30,000 acres last year, he said.