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Why did fire hydrants run dry amid Los Angeles fires? It's a familiar problem in disasters

Dozens of hydrants failed as hundreds of homes burned in Southern California.

Explaining why dozens of fire hydrants stopped working amid deadly wildfires scorching across the Los Angeles area. (Scripps News)

By: Patrick Terpstra

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In addition to extreme winds and dry conditions, firefighters face another challenge as they race to protect lives and property in the Los Angeles area. But neighborhood fire hydrants are not always working.

In most wildfires, the hydrants are meant to supplement firefighting efforts from the air, as helicopters and planes drop water and other fire suppressants in large batches on burning areas. But with extreme Santa Ana winds making aerial firefighting too dangerous early Wednesday, the hydrants became one of the only sources of water.

Los Angeles officials had filled three one-million gallon tanks to provide as much pressure as possible to feed hydrants in the hilly Pacific Palisades neighborhood, but it wasn't enough. Demand on the hydrant system was four times higher than ever before.

"The number of fire hoses connected to the fire hydrants depleted our tanks in the area, specifically in higher elevations," said Janisse Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Water failed to reach 200 out of about 1,000 hydrants in the hills of Pacific Palisades, Quiñones said.

The city briefly had to shut down the neighborhood's entire system to try restoring pressure in the hydrants, relying on tanker trucks to supply water to firefighters in the meantime.

"I had to ask the fire department to stop fighting the fire and that's a very tough operational decision to make," Quiñones said.

Hydrants have failed during other fire disasters, including the massive 2023 wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, said Andrew Whelton, engineering professor at Purdue University.

"We don't design water systems to handle 50 to 100 structures or 1,000 structures catching on fire in 24 hours," Whelton said. "That would take a massive redesign."

Thursday morning, city officials said winds died down enough to allow fighting fires from the sky again, relieving some demand on the hydrant system.