L.A. Officials Blame ‘Tremendous Demand’ for Fire Hydrants Running Dry During Fires

Mar. 15, 2025

Firefighters fight the flames from the Palisades Fire burning the Theatre Palisades during a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025.Photo:Apu Gomes/Getty

Apu Gomes/Getty

Los Angeles officials are speaking out in response to fire hydrants running out of water in the Pacific Palisades following public outcry amid the area’s raging wildfires.“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades. We pushed the system to the extreme,” Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said during apress conferenceWednesday, Jan. 8.As firefighters battled the deadly blaze, which has alreadyclaimed at least two livesand ripped through more than 11,000 acres of the Pacific Palisades, water stopped flowing through multiple fire hydrants — leaving crews unable to put out fires.A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes at Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025.Apu Gomes/Getty“Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure,” Quiñones continued.“If there’s a message you take away from me today, is, I need our customers to really conserve water — not just in the Palisades area, but the whole system because the fire department needs the water to fight the fires," Quiñones added.Per theLos Angeles Times, firefighters could be heard discussing the water outage on their internal radio channels.“The hydrants are down,” one firefighter reportedly said.Flames overtake the intersection of Temescal Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway Fire at the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades California on January 7, 2025.Another replied, “Water supply just dropped,” before all hydrants “went dry” around 3 a.m.Palisades Village mall owner Rick Caruso slammed the lack of water for the fatal fires.“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” the businessman, a former commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said, per theTimes.“The firefighters are there [in the neighborhood], and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning,” Caruso continued, adding, “It should never happen.”Firefighters fight the flames from the Palisades Fire burning the Theatre Palisades during a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025.Apu Gomes/GettyAccording to theAssociated Press, the Palisades Fire has now been classified as the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles County. It remains at 0% containment.One factor causing the flames to spread at extremely high rates has been wind.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.TheNational Weather Service (NWS) Los Angelesadvised early Wednesday morning that a high wind warning was in effect until 6 p.m. for Catalina and Santa Barbara islands, as well as Los Angeles County beaches, Los Angeles County Inland Coast including downtown Los Angeles and Palos Verdes Hills. Winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.“This event is not only not over, but it is just getting started andwill get significantly worsebefore it gets better,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said Tuesday, Jan. 7, per theLos Angeles Times.Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

Los Angeles officials are speaking out in response to fire hydrants running out of water in the Pacific Palisades following public outcry amid the area’s raging wildfires.

“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades. We pushed the system to the extreme,” Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said during apress conferenceWednesday, Jan. 8.

As firefighters battled the deadly blaze, which has alreadyclaimed at least two livesand ripped through more than 11,000 acres of the Pacific Palisades, water stopped flowing through multiple fire hydrants — leaving crews unable to put out fires.

A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes at Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025.Apu Gomes/Getty

“Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure,” Quiñones continued.

“If there’s a message you take away from me today, is, I need our customers to really conserve water — not just in the Palisades area, but the whole system because the fire department needs the water to fight the fires," Quiñones added.

Per theLos Angeles Times, firefighters could be heard discussing the water outage on their internal radio channels.

“The hydrants are down,” one firefighter reportedly said.

Flames overtake the intersection of Temescal Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway Fire at the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades California on January 7, 2025.

Another replied, “Water supply just dropped,” before all hydrants “went dry” around 3 a.m.

Palisades Village mall owner Rick Caruso slammed the lack of water for the fatal fires.

“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” the businessman, a former commissioner for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said, per theTimes.

“The firefighters are there [in the neighborhood], and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning,” Caruso continued, adding, “It should never happen.”

Firefighters fight the flames from the Palisades Fire burning the Theatre Palisades during a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025.Apu Gomes/Getty

According to theAssociated Press, the Palisades Fire has now been classified as the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles County. It remains at 0% containment.

One factor causing the flames to spread at extremely high rates has been wind.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

TheNational Weather Service (NWS) Los Angelesadvised early Wednesday morning that a high wind warning was in effect until 6 p.m. for Catalina and Santa Barbara islands, as well as Los Angeles County beaches, Los Angeles County Inland Coast including downtown Los Angeles and Palos Verdes Hills. Winds were expected to reach 30 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph.

“This event is not only not over, but it is just getting started andwill get significantly worsebefore it gets better,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, said Tuesday, Jan. 7, per theLos Angeles Times.

Click hereto learn more about how to help the victims of the L.A. fires.

source: people.com