The Los Angeles Waterworks does not have a safety procedure that may have caused the hydrants to stop pumping
The Los Angeles city utility company lacked a normal safety procedure that may have kept water from pumping into fire hydrants during an intentional power outage, even though President Biden said the outage caused the problem.
republicans, including President-elect Trumpthey blamed Democratic officials — at least in part — for the water shortage, which has hampered efforts to fight the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County. But Democrats rejected those claims, with Biden suggesting on Thursday that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) was responsible for shutting off power to the pumps that power the hydrants.
“What I know from talking to the governor, there’s a concern that there’s also a water shortage,” Biden told reporters. “The fact is that the utilities, understandably, turned off the power because they were concerned that the lines that were carrying the power would be blown off and cause additional fires. When that happened, the ability to generate pumping water was cut off – that’s what caused the lack of water in these hydrants.”
Biden pointed out that after the shutdown, generators are being installed to restore power to the pumps and ensure that there is no longer a shortage of water to fight the fire.
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Firefighters roll up a hose used to fight a fire in Eaton after a hydrant ran out of water, as strong winds fan devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area forcing people to evacuate, in Altadena, California, U.S., January 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
But the report from The Wall Street Journal presented Friday, noted that LADWP is the only major utility in California without an intentional shutdown protocol, known as a “public safety shutdown” procedure. The protocol lays out plans to proactively shut down certain power lines during dangerous storms and limit the impact on public safety.
“Preparing for a power outage requires careful planning, which starts with designing our water systems properly and working with local fire agencies and power companies to ensure community safety,” explains California Water Service, the state’s private utility provider. frequently asked questions page on its website about power outages for public safety.
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“We go far beyond our standard procedures to ensure that the water supply is not interrupted during a power outage,” the company added. “Cal Water has installed permanent generators at many of our critical stations over the years, and we are working to bring in additional, portable generators for other stations. Our crews and employees are also trained in emergency response procedures when these are widespread and outages occur.”
Michael Wara, an attorney who directs Stanford University’s Climate and Energy Policy Program and studies wildfire mitigation strategies, added in remarks to the Wall Street Journal that “there is no need to compromise reliability and safety.”
Fire crews battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ethan Swope)
Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, confirmed that there are measures that could be taken to keep the pumps powered during an intentional shutdown.
“They have to ground these power lines, that would be the solution, or they have to have parallel systems that go to vital services like fire hydrant pumps that are not on the same circuit as the lines that go to households,” Ring said.
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An LADWP spokesperson told Fox News Digital that in the absence of a public safety shutdown protocol for Los Angeles, there is a different procedure to reduce the risk of fire while continuing vital functions. A spokesman said the urban environment of Los Angeles is different from the environment served by other California utilities.
“LADWP worked closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department to develop this emergency protocol,” the spokesperson said. “LADWP’s plan is reviewed every 3 years by an independent third party and submitted to state regulators as needed.”
But in the past, according to the Wall Street Journal, LADWP has maintained that it will not proactively shut down power before high winds.
A firefighter removes a hose from a hydrant that ran out of water while fighting the Eaton fire, after the hydrant ran out of water, as strong winds fuel devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area prompting people to evacuate, in Altadena, California, U.S. January 9, 2025 . (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
Former Los Angeles firefighter John Knox, who spoke to Fox News on Friday, he said he was “surprised” to hear that the hydrants had run dry, adding that there are “a lot of things people need to ask to get answers from these so-called leaders.”
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“In my career, I’ve never seen us have — every once in a while you might have a dry hydrant, but we do our annual testing in January where we test all fire hydrants, and that didn’t happen this year,” Knox said. “The area has a very large reservoir with four huge tanks that are supposed to be filled at all times. I understand they also had one of them out for maintenance for a year during peak bush season.
“There are a lot of questions and a lot of things that people need to ask in order to get answers from these so-called leaders.”
