Quake Theft Probe Targets Firefighters : Investigation: Up to 13 scrutinized in internal inquiry in Santa Monica may face discipline.

As many as 13 Santa Monica firefighters face disciplinary action after allegations that they took items left behind by tenants forced to evacuate an earthquake-damaged apartment building, fire officials said Tuesday.

The disclosure by Santa Monica Fire Chief Richard Bridges came after the Fire Department concluded a monthlong investigation.

In an effort to ease public concern about the integrity of its firefighters, Santa Monica officials announced that they have asked the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to conduct an independent criminal inquiry.

“We have utmost confidence in (those) who serve the department,” said City Manager John Jalili, “but in this instance the public needs to be reassured that the matter is being handled thoroughly.”

The internal probe was initiated after guards for a private security firm reported seeing firefighters removing furniture, clothing and other items from the 178-unit Sea Castle Apartments on Oct. 4, fire officials said.

The former tenants had been allowed into the red-tagged building between Sept. 19 and Oct. 1, under supervision, to retrieve their belongings. Fire officials have said that on the day the alleged thefts occurred, firefighters had returned to remove household hazardous wastes.

Neither Bridges nor Jalili would comment about the findings of the Fire Department investigation.

However, sources familiar with the probe said that investigators interviewed 30 firefighters and that the actions of 13 were under scrutiny.

Although careful to avoid the appearance of condoning the alleged incidents, city officials have suggested the allegations are partly the result of confusion about the status of the abandoned property.

A source familiar with the probe said some firefighters told investigators they saw nothing inappropriate in taking the items--which allegedly included a baseball card collection and a television--because they thought their owners did not want them.

Some firefighters said that they accepted some items as gifts and that they removed others with the intent of donating them to charity, the source said.

The revelation that firefighters may have helped themselves to property left in the building has drawn a mixed reaction among the building’s former tenants.

“There were things I left behind that I would have liked to have taken,” said Stephen Brown, who lived in the building for 10 years. “I would have liked to have had another chance to get in there.”

But another former tenant said the firefighters were getting a bad rap.

“I don’t know whether they violated their own rules,” said Nan Faessler, a 13-year resident. “But they did everything possible to accommodate us. People who left things either didn’t want them or were too stupid to take advantage of their opportunities.”

The Sea Castle was sealed off after the Jan. 17 earthquake caused major structural damage. After the building was shored up, each former tenant was given four hours to recover belongings.

But Faessler said that despite the time limit, fire officials allowed residents as much time as they needed to remove items during the cleanup period.

The Sea Castle is among 81 quake-damaged buildings in Santa Monica to be shored up as part of a program to allow residents to retrieve their property. There have been no similar complaints from any of the more than 1,500 other apartment dwellers affected by the program.