More fires ignite around Los Angeles as city’s water supply dwindles

At least five major fires burned across areas totaling more than 45 square miles of the city Thursday morning as over 7,500 emergency personnel deployed to the Los Angeles area. While the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires continued burning Wednesday evening, two more blazes ignited in the Hollywood Hills area in the mountains north of the city. Dry weather and the powerful Santa Ana winds that reached up to 100 mph in some areas fueled the fires. At least five people have died and about 130,000 people were ordered to evacuate or prepare to evacuate, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.

The blazes destroyed nearly 2,000 structures and more than 400,000 people were without power in the region Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. The Palisades Fire destroyed historic homes and buildings at the Will Rogers State Historic Park and the Topanga State Park, according to the state parks department.

How is the city addressing water shortages? All three water storage tanks in the Palisades ran dry Wednesday morning after the water system experienced four times its usual demand for 15 hours straight, said Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones. Some crews who were trying to reroute water had to evacuate due to the fire’s intensity, according to the department, and some fire hydrants had no water or experienced low water pressure. All of the city’s water tanks were full before the fires started, officials said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday mobilized up to 140 water tenders to help fight the two largest fires. Meanwhile, officials issued a boil water notice for residents in the Pacific Palisades.

Why are officials facing criticism? Speaking to KTTV, former Department of Water and Power commissioner and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso blamed aging infrastructure and the city’s mismanagement of resources for the fire’s destruction. L.A. City Councilwoman Traci Park agreed, telling the Los Angeles Times that officials failed to properly invest in public infrastructure. The Times’ owner Patrick Soon-Shiong claimed on X that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had slashed the fire department’s budget despite the high risk of wildfires. The fire department’s $800 million 2024-2025 budget did drop by about $17 million compared to the previous year, according to city documents. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Gov. Newsom of preventing water restoration projects from moving forward in the state and called on the governor to step down.