California’s Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom ordered an impartial investigation into the shortage of water in hearth hydrants after Los Angeles burned.
“I’m calling for an impartial investigation into the lack of water stress to native hearth hydrants and the reported unavailability of water provides from the Santa Ynez Reservoir,” Newsom mentioned.
“We’d like solutions to make sure this doesn’t occur once more and we have now each useful resource out there to struggle these catastrophic fires,” he mentioned.
Newsom’s letter was addressed to Janisse Quiñones, the overpaid bureaucrat who oversees hearth hydrant upkeep.
NEW: I’m calling for an impartial investigation into the lack of water stress to native hearth hydrants and the reported unavailability of water provides from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
We’d like solutions to make sure this doesn’t occur once more and we have now each useful resource out there to… pic.twitter.com/R0vq0wwZph
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 10, 2025
Native information reporters captured stunning footage of firefighters encountering dry hearth hydrants as constructions burned within the LA fires.
WATCH:
Round 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, a hydrant firefighters have been utilizing on Lachman Lane ran dry. You may hear what feels like air pushing out, however no water. #PalisadesWildfire #PalisadeFire #PacificPalisades pic.twitter.com/09e6FRrcIM
— Matthew Seedorff (@MattSeedorff) January 8, 2025
On the bottom, firefighters reported that a number of hydrants within the space had run dry, severely hampering their efforts to regulate the inferno.
“There’s no water within the hearth hydrants,” Rick Caruso, proprietor of the Palisades Village procuring middle, advised The Times. “The firefighters are there, and there’s nothing they’ll do — we’ve obtained neighborhoods burning, properties burning, and companies burning. … It ought to by no means occur.”
Experiences have surfaced {that a} Los Angeles County official chargeable for this straightforward job of overseeing hearth hydrant upkeep is raking in an astonishing $750,000 yearly.
Janisse Quiñones “knew about empty reservoir and damaged hydrants” a number of months earlier than Tuesday’s wildfires.
Moreover, based on a leaked memo, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass demanded an extra $49 million in funds cuts to the already cash-strapped Los Angeles Hearth Division (LAFD) simply days earlier than wildfires ravaged the town.
The memo, dated January 6—merely a day earlier than the Palisades Hearth ravaged the area—proposed shutting down 16 hearth stations throughout the town, slashing assets vital for combating wildfires and responding to emergencies.
