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The fight against fires in Los Angeles is hampered by low water pressure in hydrants

The Eaton fire, which destroyed 52 km in Los Angeles County2is under control of only three percent. A nighttime curfew is in effect in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton areas, said Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell. In the Palisades neighborhood, the mandatory evacuation zone has expanded to include the suburbs of Brentwood and Encina. The area that is being evacuated also includes the Getty Center with a large gallery.

The fire claimed five lives in Palisades and six in Eaton.

According to Newsom, more than 12,000 firefighters have been involved in extinguishing the flames so far, 1,150 fire engines and 60 firefighting planes have been deployed.

Low water pressure in hydrants

Governor Newsom addressed a letter to the head of the electric and water company Los Angeles Water And Power and to the director of the Department of Public Works in Los Angeles. “The loss of water supply from fire hydrants apparently had an impact on efforts to protect some houses and secure evacuation corridors,” the governor said in a letter he published on the X network.

He added that there is a need to investigate low pressure in local fire hydrants and reports that water was not coming from the Santa Ynez Reservoir. According to him, a detailed investigation is needed to ensure that the situation does not happen again and “we had all the necessary resources to fight such catastrophic fires”.

One of the commanders of the intervention in the Palisades district, Adam Van Gerpen, confirmed to the BBC that the crews of some vehicles ran out of water: “I saw it with my own eyes.” Firefighters also ran out of water in other areas, he added. According to him, the importation of water from other areas resulted in a lower effectiveness of fighting flames. Firefighters had to improvise because “they count on the fact that there is sufficient water pressure in the hydrants”.

Money cuts for firefighters

It is also discussed to what extent the reduction of the budget for fire fighters in Los Angeles by 17.6 million dollars to 820 million dollars (120 billion crowns) had an impact on the problems in fighting fires. Fire Chief Kristin Crowley previously warned that the cuts “severely reduced the capacity of firefighters in Los Angeles to prepare for and respond to large-scale emergencies such as wildfires.”

According to Mayor Karen Bassová, these cuts did not affect the ability to extinguish large fires. In addition, Los Angeles firefighters are not the only ones in the area, colleagues from neighboring districts also intervened, and fighting the fire is also the task of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Expenditures for firefighters in California were cut by 101 million last year. However, this should not be the cause of problems. Since 2014, spending on them has risen from $1.1 billion to three billion. Newsom said California’s fire departments have doubled in size, and the state also has the largest fleet of firefighting aircraft in the world.

“The disaster is not so terrible because of the lack of resources. There are limits to effective wildland firefighting under the extreme conditions we’ve experienced this week,” said climatologist Daniel Swain. California is suffering from a long-term drought, and the fire was fanned by strong dry winds blowing from the Great Plains in the Midwest.

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