Large Reservoir Completely EMPTY As Pacific Palisades Fire Erupted, Report Says

According to the Los Angeles Times, a large reservoir in Pacific Palisades, part of the Los Angeles water supply system, was out of use when the destructive fire erupted this week.

The fast-moving fire burned thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. 

“As wildfires destroyed over 5,300 homes, firefighters in Pacific Palisades were stuck with dry hydrants thanks to the 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir being offline for repairs. Because apparently, a key water source wasn’t a priority during fire season,” Mario Nawfal wrote.

“The DWP admitted the empty reservoir made things worse but blamed ‘unprecedented demand’ and the fire’s intensity. By 3 a.m. Wednesday, all three smaller Palisades water tanks were bone dry, and crews couldn’t refill them fast enough,” he added.

PACIFIC PALISADES RESERVOIR CLOSED DURING WILDFIRES, LEAVING FIREFIGHTERS HIGH AND DRY

As wildfires destroyed over 5,300 homes, firefighters in Pacific Palisades were stuck with dry hydrants thanks to the 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir being offline for repairs.… https://t.co/GWGC9Py3Mt pic.twitter.com/ZcVYXbHCbg

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 10, 2025

From the Los Angeles Times:

Officials told The Times that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117 million gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades.

The revelation comes among growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze. Numerous fire hydrants in higher-elevation streets of the Palisades went dry, leaving firefighters struggling with low water pressure as they combated the flames.

ADVERTISEMENT

Department of Water and Power officials have said that demand for water during an unprecedented fire made it impossible to maintain any pressure to hydrants at high elevations.

Had the reservoir been operable, it would have extended water pressure in the Palisades on Tuesday night, said former DWP general manager Martin Adams, an expert on the city’s water system. But only for a time.

“You still would have ended up with serious drops in pressure,” Adams said in an interview Thursday. “Would Santa Ynez [Reservoir] have helped? Yes, to some extent. Would it have saved the day? I don’t think so.”

The reservoir serving Pacific Palisades was empty for repairs to it’s cover to meet water quality regulations.

The modern environmental movement in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/AfMVrZFYUR

— Jeremy Carl (@realJeremyCarl) January 10, 2025

It’s almost as if the virtual world has made people forget that if you don’t look after your physical infrastructure, there can be no digital world either:

“Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline and empty when firestorm exploded” pic.twitter.com/zuCS2aTF4l

— Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) January 10, 2025

Per CBS News:

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.”

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.