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STORY: :: A water expert says a ‘firestorm of factors’ strained water supplies during the LA wildfires response:: January 10, 2025:: Los Angeles, California:: Edith de Guzman, UCLA water specialist“We have much more of this climate whiplash sort of phenomenon where we have very, very wet years followed by very dry years. And that is in and of itself very problematic because it creates more susceptibility in places that didn't used to be quite so high-risk.”“The reality is that we have urban water systems that are not designed to fight wildfires or put out entire, sort of, mountainsides that are on fire. And we are having, you know, very high severity events that are unprecedented.""We had extremely wet winters in 2023 and ‘24, which encouraged a lot of vegetative growth and then followed by an unprecedentedly dry few months. // And then the third component, of course, was these ferocious winds.// So literally sort of a perfect firestorm of factors that came together to create an extreme demand for water in a very short amount of time."Firefighters finally started gaining control over two major wildfires on the eastern and western flanks of Los Angeles on Friday (January 10) as fierce winds that supercharged the fires for days finally eased, but the challenges surrounding access to water raised many questions.Edith de Guzman, a water equity and adaptation specialist at University of California, Los Angeles, said firefighters fighting the Palisades Fire in particular struggled with dry hydrants and low water pressure owing to the region’s mountainous topography, intense winds precluding dousing fires from aircraft and a recent dry spell that followed seasons of rainfall and plant growth.With thousands of people suddenly homeless and the thickening smoke leading U.S. officials to declare a public health emergency, firefighters reported progress arresting the Palisades Fire on the western edge of the city and the Eaton Fire in the foothills east of the sprawling metropolis.
