Firefighters Defend Against Unfriendly Fire : Safety: Because of gunshot incidents, the Santa Ana department is asking the City Council to purchase 130 bullet-proof vests.

Lenny Edelman joined this city’s Fire Department eight years ago for the physical challenge of pulling people from burning buildings and the humanitarian challenge of saving lives. But along the way, Edelman has twice had to dodge bullets and was shot in the thigh while on duty in Los Angeles during the 1992 riots.

Edelman’s injury, combined with other incidents in which firefighters were exposed to gunfire, has prompted the Fire Department to begin work on a formal policy requiring them to wear bullet-proof vests in some situations.

Tonight, the City Council will consider a Fire Department request to purchase 130 vests, which cost about $400 apiece.

“It’s a hell of a thing in our society when firemen feel they have to do this,” said Battalion Chief Tom Skelley. “It’s hard. It’s really hard. We’ve always been friends of the community.”

A number of Orange County fire departments have quietly stocked bullet-proof vests in the wake of the 1992 riots.

Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Orange, Newport Beach, Anaheim and the Orange County Fire Authority--which patrols 18 cities and the county’s unincorporated areas--have similar policies requiring the use of bullet-proof vests. The riots also prompted Los Angeles County firefighters to begin carrying bullet-proof vests on their trucks.

The Santa Ana Fire Department already has about 70 dark-blue bullet-proof vests that firefighters inherited from the Police Department two years ago. But no formal policy regulates their use, and the warranties are expiring.

Current informal policy dictates that the commander on duty decide whether firefighters should don available vests, said Battalion Chief John T. Chambers.

Santa Ana Fire Department officials say firefighters are still welcome in most parts of the city, and that a small minority of residents has prompted the policy. But they add that, sadly, the two-piece vests, which contain hard inner shells, have become as important as water hoses and ladders on some calls.

“If I go out on a call involving weapons or guns, I’m going to put on my body armor,” Chambers said. Firefighters, some of whom also serve as paramedics, are at especially high risk when assisting shooting victims because suspects are sometimes still in the area, he said.

No firefighter has ever been shot while on duty in Santa Ana, Chambers said, and shooting incidents are sporadic. One firefighter was injured about two years ago, when a bullet hit a paramedic unit and its surprised driver crashed into a building.

But firetrucks have been the targets of gunshots, as have firefighters’ cars parked at or near stations. Officials say some of the shots might be stray gunfire, but they cannot be sure.

The vests, if approved by the City Council, should arrive in August. The department hopes to have its formal policy written by September.

Chambers said he expects the city’s policy to mirror the county’s, which requires firefighters to wear bullet-proof vests in high-crime areas or when responding to violent incidents such as shootings and stabbings. Under the county policy, commanders make the call in hard-to-read situations.

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But there are drawbacks to wearing the vests, officials agree.

One is that the five-pound vests will trap heat and contribute to firefighters’ exhaustion. In some situations, firefighters are weighed down by more than 50 pounds of gear, including fire-resistant pants and overcoats, rubber boots and 30-pound breathing tanks. When the clothes get wet, which they almost always do, the weight increases.

Chambers said one solution is to give firefighters more rest time. But that can be a problem in situations where the department is short-staffed.

Firefighters probably will not have to wear vests when entering burning buildings, he said.

“If you’re in a high-rise, and in body armor, and you have to climb six flights of stairs, you’re going to get heated up,” Chambers said.

Steve Critchfield, president of the labor organization representing 260 Santa Ana firefighters, said he opposes any “hard and fast” rules regulating the use of bullet-proof vests. He said field commanders, who can judge each situation on its merits, should decide whether vests must be worn.

“Bullet-proof vests can be an asset,” Critchfield said, “and they can also be a liability.”

Another fear is that people who know that firefighters are wearing bullet-proof vests will be provoked into shooting. Chambers noted that “if people know we’re wearing them, they may aim to avoid” the vests.

The department had hoped to order custom-fitted vests that are barely detectable for each firefighter. But the company selling those vests went bankrupt, Chambers said. Instead, each vest will be used by about three different firefighters, who work on rotating shifts.