Los Angeles had substandard hydrants near devastating fire’s starting point
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The Palisades fire first took hold in a neighbourhood where many hydrants had only a single, small outlet for firefighters to use. Single-outlet hydrants were installed in Los Angeles neighborhoods decades ago, some as far back as the 1940s.
From the NY Times Feb. 4, 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/us/los-angeles-fire-hydrants-substandard.html
During the Palisades fire, the water system used to fight the blaze buckled under the demands of what turned out to be the most destructive fire in city history. Some hydrants ran dry as they were overstressed without assistance from firefighting aircraft for hours. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was pumping from aqueducts and groundwater into the system, but demand was so high that it wasn’t enough to refill three 1-million gallon tanks in hilly Pacific Palisades that help pressurize hydrants for the neighborhood. Many went dry as at least 1,000 buildings were engulfed in flames.
Sources
TIME - What to Know About the Hydrants That Ran Dry Amid the Fires in LA
CNBC - Why LA's Water System Failed During Palisades Fire
Fast Company - Why Hydrants Aren't Enough to Combat the LA Fires