SAN DIEGO -- Last fall's Cedar, Paradise and Otay wildfires struck a region unprepared in key ways for the catastrophic but predictable conflagrations, according to a study released Wednesday.

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The U.S. Forest Service's "2003 San Diego County Fire Siege Fire Safety Review" calls on government bodies and private citizens to rethink their approaches to readying for such fiery disasters.

The analysis acknowledged the conditions under which the deadly infernos erupted and raged -- "dry fuels, high temperatures and hot winds; high-density urban areas in close proximity to wildlands; simultaneous large incidents and dwindling suppression resources" -- were "extreme."

"But these conditions were not without precedent," according to the document written by a 13-member panel of firefighting and municipal services experts. "These circumstances occur regularly in Southern California and cannot be characterized as unexpected anomalies."

The huge blazes, which began spreading in late October, blackened about 376,250 acres, or more than 13 percent of the county's total land mass, according to the analysis.

They killed 16 people, destroyed 3,241 structures and cost $43.23 million to fight. The largest of the three, the Cedar Fire, was the worst ever to hit California.

The report points to a "lack of formal operational agreements and consistent preseason interagency coordination, integrated planning and training" that "caused a degree of disorganization in the management of the fires."

"Inconsistent or outdated policies among agencies also affected the overall efficiency of incident management, particularly in the area of aviation operations," the report stated. "Interagency relationships, while cordial, lacked coordination, so information and intelligence did not flow effectively."

Planning and logistics also were "in disarray for the first few operational periods, due in part to administrative difficulties with resource-ordering systems, and to competing regional demands for fire-suppression and support resources," it added.

A head official with one of the agencies in question agreed that "there are, obviously, things that we could do better."

California Department of Forestry Chief Charles Maner said the study, a "good, solid report," urges changes that already are in the works in the region, notably in terms of interagency interaction.

"I think we do a pretty good job of it, but obviously we could do a better job of it," Maner said.

The study makes a similar point, asserting that local governments "must begin to prepare in earnest for the worst-case scenario."

"This includes comprehensive disaster planning, improved multi-agency coordination and interagency training on the part of emergency-response agencies," it continues.

Additionally, "fire-related considerations" must be "integrated into zoning, building codes and large-scale planning in Southern California, just as other regions consider the likelihood of disasters such as hurricanes and floods in their overall municipal administration and planning programs," the document opined.

The report also calls on the public to do its part to minimize the dangers posed by wildfires.

"Just as significantly, a meaningful preparedness effort requires a high level of proactive participation and engagement on the part of residents in the wildland-urban interface, including the establishment and maintenance of defensible space around homes and neighborhoods, and personal and community pre-incident planning," it concludes.

Forest service Fire Chief Rich Hawkins said a major "theme" of the report -- that many of the preparedness problems that existed last fall were the same as those in 1970, when the last massive firestorm struck the county -- "understates" the extent of improvements that have occurred in the meantime.

Over the last 34 years, emergency services officials have instituted a local joint incident-command system and established a statewide mutual-aid program, Hawkins said.

"It's much better ... but obviously we still have problems," Hawkins said.

A major remaining priority in San Diego County, according to Hawkins, is the creation of an efficient back-country evacuation plan.