Janisse Quiñones, the chief executive officer and chief engineer of Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power, said there has been “tremendous demand on our [water] system in the Palisades,” resulting in tanks being emptied three times in less than 24 hours.
“We pushed the system to the extreme, four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight which lowered our water pressure. We were pushing 75 CFS (cubic feet per second) on our trunk line to try to keep water pressure in the system,” she explained.
Yesterday there were reports of fire hydrants not expelling enough water or running dry.
What we know about the California wildfires
- At least two people have been killed as fast moving fires are engulfing the Los Angeles area, prompting mandatory evacuations of more than 80,000 people.
- The Palisades Fire has already burned through more than 5,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire has destroyed 2,227 acres and the Hurst Fire has affected 500 acres. The Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood tucked between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
- The Eaton Fire sparked around 6:30 p.m. yesterday in the Pasadena and Altadena area, while the Hurst Fire ignited around 10:30 p.m. yesterday in Sylmar, north of San Fernando, and grew to 500 acres, according to Cal Fire.
- The fires were sparked by a combination of dry conditions and powerful winds and are having a huge effect far beyond the danger zones, with almost 300,000 energy customers in the dark this morning, according to PowerOutage.com.
