On Tuesday, as fires raged across Los Angeles, some firefighters battling the Palisades fire reported over the company radio system that Pacific Palisades’ hydrants were running dry.
One firefighter said, “The fire hydrants are stopped.”
“The water supply just went down,” said another.
Rick Caruso, a Los Angeles developer who owns Palisades Village in the heart of the West Side neighborhood, told the Times he has heard similar reports from staff at the shopping center.
“There’s no water in the hydrants,” Caruso said. “The firefighters are there. [in the neighborhood]and there’s nothing they can do — we have neighborhoods burning, homes burning, businesses burning. …That should never happen. ”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Water and Power confirmed reports that water from hydrants had decreased, but did not provide details on the number of hydrants without water or the scale of the problem.
DWP said in a statement that water crews were working in the neighborhood “to secure water supplies.”
“Water tanks have been installed in the area and close co-ordination is in place to ensure continued water supply to the area,” DWP said in a statement.
It’s unclear how widespread the hydrant problem was or its exact cause. In November, two water pumps shut down during a Ventura County wildfire due to a lack of water from fire hydrants, slowing the process of getting water to hilly areas and hampering firefighting efforts.
Caruso, a former member of the city’s Water and Power Commission who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, blamed the problem on a problem with a reservoir that supplies water to nearby fire hydrants.
“This is a window into systemic problems in the city, not just mismanagement, but outdated infrastructure,” Caruso said.
DWP and the Los Angeles Fire Department did not respond to Caruso’s comments.
Caruso, who was evacuated from her home in Brentwood on Tuesday, said she was very concerned. Tuesday’s fire destroyed their daughter’s home, and the family said they are waiting to find out if any of their sons were also left homeless.
Caruso said late Tuesday that several homes in the Palisades Village shopping center area were “completely engulfed” in flames, and the shopping center, which opened in 2018, was also damaged. He said he, like thousands of others in his neighborhood, had been waiting all night to see what would happen to his property and the full extent of the damage.
“We are feeling the very personal impact of this,” he said.
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