Reporter Ric Romero reflected on how the Los Angeles (CA) riots 20 years ago affected the city in a recent news piece for KABC-TV. Romero wrote about how firefighters struggling to put out the many fires lit during the riots became targets of violence.
The rioting, looting and violence were set off by the 1992 verdict in the Rodney King case; rioters set off more than 3,000 fires in the city. Firefighters not only faced the danger of fighting fires, but also had to worry about objects being thrown at them while fighting the fires.
Firefighters even faced the danger of being shot. Captain Scott Miller was driving a hook-and-ladder truck from one fire to another when he was shot by a passing motorist. Although he survived his injuries, Miller was never able to return to active firefighting duties.
To read more of Romero’s recollections of those turbulent times, visit http://bit.ly/JYELZ5.
For training information related to these subjects, consider Free Firefighter/EMT Self-Defense Program Available and Firefighter Training Program: New Free Fire/EMS Response to Civil Unrest Training Available.
