Flames quickly consumed neighborhoods in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles County, but the shootout was hampered by several major problems, including wind speed and water pressure issues.
Polar winds, expected to last Wednesday into Thursday, reached 90 mph, causing the blaze to spread rapidly overnight and grounding fire planes. The water pressure issue affected the ability to supply water to the hydrants for several hours at one point, officials acknowledged at a news conference Thursday.
Three large water tanks, each holding about 1 million gallons, were affected, said Janice Quinones, CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
“The water ran out and the first tank was completed yesterday around 4:45 p.m.,” Quinones said. “The second tank ran out of water at about 8:30 p.m., and the third tank ran out of water at about 3 a.m. this morning.”
Quinones said DWP was unable to fill tanks fast enough to help pressure the hydrants.
“We couldn’t fill the tanks fast enough, so the water was being consumed faster than we could supply it to the mains,” Kinoes said.
As the sun rose over Los Angeles Wednesday morning, the first images showed how much damage remains from multiple wind-driven fires.
During questioning, one official said that at 3 a.m. “all the fire hydrants were dry.”
LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley said all firefighting aircraft were out of service as of 7 p.m. Tuesday due to high winds. She said it would be airborne as soon as weather conditions allowed.
Red flags including strong winds are expected into Thursday. Crowley said in his 25-year career, he has never seen winds like the powerful blast that blew through the Pacific Palisades.
Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said fire hydrant systems are “not designed to fight wildfires.”
“It is unsustainable to have multiple hydrants fighting a fire for several hours,” Pestrella said. “That’s why air support is so important to firefighting efforts and unfortunately, due to wind and sky visibility, we were unable to provide support to county reservoirs, but county and city reservoirs have open reservoirs. We are ready and standing by. When that support becomes available, we will assist.”Fixed wing and helicopters will pump water out of the system.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone provides an update on wildfires in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday.
“Customers also need to understand that trying to fight a fire with a hose in their home is really wasteful. We don’t recommend it. We would like to request that you please turn off the gas before leaving the resident so that we can continue to supply water to the hydrant system. Although transportation has been shut down many times.”
NBCLA encountered residents with garden hoses, some even standing on rooftops trying to flush water into their homes and yards.
The Palisades Fire was one of three large wildfires burning in Los Angeles County on Wednesday. It burned approximately 3,000 acres and destroyed 1,000 structures.
Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Malone said at a news conference Wednesday that red flags had been raised and the fire was ready to go before the fire broke out, but firefighters were in the most dangerous situation they had ever seen. He said he was facing it.
“Los Angeles County does not have enough firefighters to fight four fires this large,” Marrone said. “The Los Angeles County Fire Department was prepared for one or two large wildfires, but not for four. This is not a typical red flag alert.”
The Eaton Fire, which started near the foothills community of Altadena, also prompted evacuation orders in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles after the fire broke out Tuesday evening.
The Hearst Fire broke out late Tuesday in Sylmar, in Los Angeles’ northern San Fernando Valley.
The Woodley Fire broke out early Wednesday in the Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley west of Los Angeles, burning more than 75 acres.
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