The Southland Firestorm: A Special Report : The Firefighters : On The Fire Line : Profiling the Troops

The Los Angeles city and county fire departments, which have been roundly applauded for their work in containing this week’s firestorms, are among the largest and most innovative in the country, according to the International Assn. of Fire Chiefs. What follows is a statistical sketch of each:

The Chiefs City of Los Angeles Name: Donald O. Manning Age: About 60 Tenure: Chief since 1989 Salary: $167, 792 Background: 37 years with department *Los Angeles County Name: P. Michael Freeman Age: 48 Tenure: Chief since 1989 Salary: $148,707 Background: 25 years with Dallas Fire Department; served as assistant chief *Los Angeles Fire Department Jurisdictions: Cities of Los Angeles, San Fernando Number of people served: 3.5 million Square miles: 470 Fires per year: 20,700 Arsons per year: 6,100 False alarms per year: 41,000 Emergency medical calls per year: 231,000 Uniformed personnel: 3,038 (1) Ethnic and gender breakdown: male: 98.4% Anglo: 63% Latino: 23% black: 11% Firefighter fire injuries per year: About 650 in ‘91-’92 Firefighter fire fatalities per year: N/A (2) Fire stations: 102 Annual operating budget: $250 million Firefighter salary range: $31,528-$46,082 Fire suppression capability rating: (1-10 scale, 1 being best) 2(3) *L.A. County Fire Department Jurisdictions: Wilderness, unincorporated areas and 49 small cities Number of people served: 2.8 million Square miles: 2,183 Fires per year: 11,000 Arsons per year: 3,343 False alarms per year: 3,000 Emergency medical calls per year: 135,000 Uniformed personnel: 2,328 (4) Ethnic and gender breakdown: male: 99.4% Anglo: 67% Latino: 21% black: 9% Firefighter fire injuries per year: 30 Firefighter fire fatalities per year: 1 in 1991; 3 in 1993 Fire stations: 138(5) Annual operating budget: $359 million Firefighter salary range: $35,292-$55,968 Fire suppression capability rating: (1-10 scale, 1 being best) 3 in flat urban areas, 9 in remote brushlands *Footnotes: (1) Includes 397 paramedics. (2) City Fire Department officials refused to disclose. (3) Rating is of the fire suppression capabilities of a community, of which fire department quality, as well as proximity to fire hydrants and stations, are key parts. Assessment is made for insurance companies and government regulators by the nonprofit Insurance Services Office. (4) Includes 706 paramedics who also fight fires. (5) Includes 11 fire suppression camps. Researched by TED ROHRLICH / Los Angeles Times