Fire hydrants ran dry due extreme demand in Pacific Palisades, officials say
Some fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades ran dry overnight Tuesday due to "extreme demand" and low water pressure, Los Angeles officials said.
The Palisades Fire, which was first reported at 10:30 a.m. local time Tuesday, has grown to over 15,800 acres with zero containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. The blaze burned through at least 1,000 buildings by Wednesday.
Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said at a Wednesday press conference that all three 1-million-gallon water tanks in the area ran dry by 3 a.m., reducing water pressure for fire hydrants at higher elevations.
"We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades. We pushed the system to the extreme," Quiñones said. "Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure."
Quiñones said the tanks, which supply pressure for hydrants in the hilly Palisades, couldn't refill fast enough as firefighting efforts drained water faster than the main trunk line could supply it.
LADWP and city leaders faced criticism by some residents, who blamed planning and the city's infrastructure for failing to support firefighting efforts. Some also claimed on social media that officials had refused or failed to fill the tanks.
However, Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said the LADWP proactively filled all available water storage tanks before the fires began. He said that "extreme demand" caused the tanks to be refilled at a slower rate, which affected the supply to some hydrants.
Scott acknowledged to CBS News in an interview Wednesday that crews "did experience some challenges with water pressure while battling the Pacific Palisades fire, particularly yesterday. We worked real closely with the Department of Water and Power, and they did proactively fill all of the available water storage tanks. But the problem is, the water availability was impacted at the higher elevations. The pressure wasn't quite what we needed, and so it affected some fire hydrants."
"We're using maybe four times the normal amount of water because we're having to use so many hose lines to put out the fires," he added.
Mark Pestrella, director of L.A. County Public Works, said the municipal water system that services homes and businesses was "not designed to fight wildfires."
"A firefight with multiple fire hydrants drawing water from the system for several hours is unsustainable," he said.
Compounding the crisis early Wednesday were high winds and dense smoke, which grounded firefighting aircraft, a critical resource for containing fast-moving wildfires, Pestrella said.
Pestrella asked residents to preserve water.
"I would ask that you turn off your water and turn off your gas, both things before you leave the residence so that we can continue to have that water supply for the hydrant system," he said.
