A critical water shortage has severely impacted firefighting efforts in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades as devastating wildfires rage through the area.
According to a NYT report, Firefighters including Capt Kevin Easton, found themselves battling the blaze without adequate water supplies after local hydrants ran dry. “Completely dry — couldn’t get any water out of it,” Easton said, describing the situation as they worked to protect the Palisades Highlands neighborhood.
The water from the hydrants by Wednesday afternoon remained unavailable, leaving many homes in the area to burn.
The shortage stemmed from the high-elevation water storage tanks and pumping systems designed to supply the area with water, which were unable to meet the overwhelming demand. “We are looking at a situation that is just completely not part of any domestic water system design,” said Marty Adams, former general manager at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Municipal water systems are designed to sustain multiple hydrants being tapped simultaneously by fire trucks. However, when fires, especially wildfires, spread quickly, they can overwhelm the system.
Pedestrians help a firefighter stretch a hose as an apartment building burns in the Altadena section of Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo)
The Pacific Palisades fire is one such example, as it raced through neighborhoods, draining the storage tanks much faster than anticipated. The system was designed for fires that might consume a few homes, not hundreds. “If this is going to be a norm, there is going to have to be some new thinking about how systems are designed,” Adams added.
By the time the fire had spread, the water storage tanks were emptied: the first tank was drained quickly, followed by the second and third within hours. Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the city’s water department, stated that the excessive water demand during the fire depleted the system, leaving less water available for the tanks.
Despite the water shortage, Los Angeles fire department chief Kristin M Crowley said that firefighters adapted to the circumstances. “Right now, we’re not utilizing the hydrants,” Crowley added.
Instead, firefighters relied heavily on aerial support, such as retardant and water drops, which were unavailable initially due to high winds.
In addition to the water crisis, strong winds caused the fire to spread unpredictably, making firefighting efforts even more challenging. Chad Augustin, chief of the Pasadena Fire Department, noted that even with more water, the erratic winds, blowing embers miles ahead of the fire, were the main reason for the fire’s rapid spread.
Firefighters team up to battle the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo)
Private sector involvement also highlighted the severity of the situation. Real estate developer Rick Caruso, who deployed private firefighters to protect his properties in the area, criticized the lack of water in hydrants, suggesting it indicated poor preparation.
The issue of aging infrastructure was also raised by local officials, such as Councilmember Traci Park, who called out the city’s water systems for being critically underfunded, with some pipes over 100 years old. “As our city has grown, we haven’t upgraded and expanded the infrastructure that we need to support it,” she said.
Experts, including UCLA researcher Greg Pierce, emphasised that the existing water systems are not equipped to handle the unique challenges posed by rapidly spreading wildfires. “Redesigning water systems to allow firefighters to take on a broad wildfire would be enormously expensive,” Pierce said.
The situation raises broader concerns about the sustainability of rebuilding neighborhoods adjacent to wildfire-prone areas, a dilemma that has been increasingly discussed across the West as climate change leads to more intense fires. Easton noted that delays in receiving additional support, such as water delivery trucks, compounded the issue. “That causes problems too, because you get 500 gallons of water and you’ve got a house that’s on fire, you knock it down a lot and then you’ve got to go back and get refilled,” he said.
As the fires continue to ravage the region, it’s clear that the combination of an overwhelmed water system, inadequate resources, and extreme weather conditions has exposed significant vulnerabilities in the city’s preparedness for such catastrophic wildfires.
