Amid the historic wildfire damage in Southern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom is demanding an investigation into the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).

Several fire hydrants in LA ran dry as crews were working to battle the Palisades Fire, which caused some to express criticism over the city and state's infrastructure and approach to fire prevention.

LADWP said water was being pumped 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.

"From the moment firestorms erupted in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, January 7, it was clear our public infrastructure would be put under tremendous strain," Newsom said in a statement.

The governor added that the winds and dry conditions have created a disaster that has pushed state resources "to the limits".

He added that the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported lack of firefighting resources were "deeply troubling."

"While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguished wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors," Newsom said. "We need answers to how that happened."

Newsom said he has directed California water and fire officials to prepare an independent after-incident report to determine what caused the loss of water supply and water pressure in municipal systems during the fire. He also wants the report to help identify measure that local governments can implement to make it less likely something like this happens again during future fires.

Story Date: January 13, 2025