California Governor Newsom orders probe of why hydrants ran dry during LA wildfires

By Eliyahu Kamisher

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered a state investigation of the Los Angeles agencies running the city’s water systems after fire hydrants ran dry, hampering efforts to protect homes from deadly wildfires.

“While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” Newsom said Friday in a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles County Public Works department. “We need answers to how that happened.”

The governor also referenced reports that a reservoir in the Pacific Palisades was empty during the fire, leading to a loss of water pressure for vital fire hydrants.

The complex of wildfires that have swept through the Los Angeles area are on track to be one of the costliest disasters in US history. Over 10,000 structures have been engulfed in the flames and 10 people killed, with the death toll expected to rise. The blazes leveled entire neighborhoods, and insurance carriers are bracing for a major strain.

The cause of the fires — which are still burning — remain unclear. Strong winds on Jan. 7 and 8 quickly spread the flames throughout Pacific Palisades and the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena. 

“From the moment firestorms erupted in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, January 7, it was clear our public infrastructure would be put under tremendous strain,” Newsom said in the letter. “The horrific hurricane-force winds and dry conditions have produced an unprecedented urban-wildlands disaster that has pushed all of our resources to the limits.”