The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 287

2 21, 1976H log angtlts ItlfS Police Book Compton Man on Suspicion of Setting Fire That Destroyed His Home Itwasarealtindcrbox." Krcdit is charged with investigating arsons, and the house fire on 133rd St. was the second suspected arson in two days for him. A fire at Centennial High School, not far from Wisner's house, caused damage Sunday. "You can have a pretty good hunch that there is arson when the fire starts in an empty classroom for no apparent reason. The heaters weren't turned on, for one thing." Witnesses at the school fire told firemen they saw some youngsters throwing objects through a window just before the blaze broke out.

Some 20 firemen spent nearly a half hour pouring water on the fire until it was quelled just before it spread into the main offices of the school. Krcdit said there are known suspects in the school fire, which destroyed three classrooms. "We may be lucky in investigating the Centennial fire. And we think we were lucky in the Wisner fire," he said. "But we don't always have "He came into the house and counted his change," said the woman by the bushes.

"He got really mad said he was $2 short." Wisner was her stepfather, she said. She would not identify herself. According to her and other eyewitness accounts, Wisner warned those inside the house he was going to set it afire. He allegedly walked into the kitchen and as several persons sat'at a table and watched in disbelief, poured gasoline near the oven and put a match to -it. The persons at the table nobody seemed sure how many frantically ran out the kitchen door.

One person forgot his keys and had to be restrained from going back inside. Only Wisner, with the burned arm he would later show the reporter, was injured. The fire spread quickly and within minutes the entire inside of the house was in flames. A pickup truck in the driveway, next to the kitchen, was heavily damaged; the side of the truck facing the house was scorched and blistered like a plastic toy. Roofing shingles on the house next door were set on fire.

Wisner's stepdaughter said she could only speculate why he would allegedly set fire to his own home. "My mother died this past January of cancer." she said. "He was still upset about that. "And my brother he was shot and killed on this street last year," she said. Fire Department Battalion Chief Sherman Krcdit said it would be difficult to figure a damage estimate to the house.

"All you can say is that it was destroyed. We estimate damages by what it would cost to rebuild a similar structure. But they don't build houses like that anymore thank goodness. BV TOM GORMAN Tlmttsiafl Writer COMPTON Robert Wisner, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and smoking a cigar, stood calmly in the driveway and showed a reporter his burned arm while his house was being destroyed by fire. "I took a can of gasoline into the kitchen he said, as fireman pulled hoses and worked for better angles on the blaze.

and it just exploded." he continued, his cigar smoke highlighted by the late afternoon sun while fireman scurried about, some sopping wet and covered by ashes. "Naw, it isn't too bad," he said, looking at his left arm. A few yards away a fireman was called over to a woman standing near some bushes. The woman animatedly pointed to Wisner. "You're sure?" the fireman asked her.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Okay, you stay right here, okay?" the fireman said, patting the bushes. Til be here," she said. The fireman walked over to a Compton police officer, and after a few words both walked back to the woman. More than 100 persons, attracted to the blaze by the plume of black smoke that could be seen several miles away, lined the street, serving as a backdrop to Wisner.

who stood alone on his driveway at 930 W. 133rd St. The firemen and the police officer walked over to Wisner and asked him about the fire. The can of gasoline just exploded in the kitchen, he said, repeating his story. A half hour later, while firemen were still searching for stubborn hot spots.

Wisner. 58. was being booked in Compton jail for deliberately setting his house on fire. ARSON SUSPECT Robert Wisner stands in driveway at his home, 930 W. 133rd Compton, while firemen continue to hose down hot spots from blaze that destroyed the structure.

Later, Compton police, acting on information from witnesses, took Wisner into custody and booked him on suspicion of arson. Times pholo by Tom Gorman POLICE ADMINISTRATION UPGRADED the chief, by himself." Rouzan said, "and that's been the problem. The captains have been so busy running their divisions, they don't have the time to look at management concerns." Under the new plan, captains will report to the three commanders "who are going to run this shop." he said. Nobody seemed to notice when Wisner was taken away in a police car. All that was left were the smoking remains of the house.

A dog next door escaped from its fenced area and was barking ferociously at two county paramedics. At first they ignored the animal, but when it kept leaping at their feet a police officer knocked it in the chest with a baton Neighbors coming home from work ran down to sec what had happened And the woman by the bushes was talking to friends, shaking her head think we need a chief and deputy chief." said Rouzan. "And the best helicopters in the world won't be any good if we don't have a good management team," he argued. The restructuring was necessary, the chief said, because "when 1 got here the captains were reporting to captains and lieutenants were in charge of divisions. "The question of responsibility and accountability was not really laid out No one seemed sure who was the boss of what.

"The only management team was Continued from First Page Cost of the new positions is expected to be easily absorbed by the city, which had already budgeted $238,000 to lease a private helicopter to provide aerial police surveillance. Councilmcn. who had hesitated for months on moving ahead with plans to lease the helicoptpr, decided Saturday the money would bo better spent on implementing Rouzan's new organization. Also budgeted earlier this year, but now removed by the council, was the position of deputy police chief. "In a department this small, I don't South Gate Class Reunion South Gate High School's class of 1957 will hold its reunion on June 25 at the Marriott Hotel in Newport Beach.

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