The speed and intensity of the fires ravaging Los Angeles this week have tested its firefighting infrastructure and led to questions and criticism around preparedness.
Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as it was devastated by one of five separate fires in the region, while water shortages further hampered efforts elsewhere.
“We need answers to how that happened,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote in a letter to the heads of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Los Angeles County Public Works.
Newsom called the lack of water and water pressure “deeply concerning” and ordered state officials to prepare an independent report on the causes.
Chris Sheach, assistant professor of disaster management at Paul Smith’s College in New York state, said AFP Part of the problem is that the city’s firefighting infrastructure was not designed for huge, multi-acre conflagrations.
“Their system is designed to fight individual home fires,” he said, or to “respond to commercial or residential structure fires.”
The amount of water used for a building compared to the amount needed to extinguish a fire ravaging thousands of acres is quite different, he added.
Resources needed
Early firefighting efforts created four times the normal demand for water in about 15 hours, said Janisse Quiñones, executive director and chief engineer of the city’s water department. New York Times.
Aside from that, Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley has said her city is hampered by a lack of resources.
“For the last three years it has been clear to me that the fire department needs help. “We can no longer stay where we are,” he said. cnn on Friday, explaining the need for more staff, resources and funding.
He said this included the need for 62 new fire stations amid a 55 per cent increase in call volume since 2010.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in just over a week, seized on the drama to attack Democrats, launching a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing Governor Newsom of a variety of failings.
He has even tried to blame the lack of water on environmentalists’ efforts to protect smelt, a small fish that lives hundreds of miles away from the fires.
‘Risk-reward decision’
“The fact that we have such a low number of deaths despite enormous property losses is a testament to the work of fire chiefs and government officials who have been timely,” said Sheach, the professor.
The fires have so far destroyed about 10,000 buildings, the California fire agency reported, while the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office has estimated the death toll at 11.
California firefighters “are some of the best firefighters in the world.
They do this a lot,” Sheach said, adding that they were better trained than in most other locations because “it’s their reality.” How can a city like Los Angeles be better prepared in the future? And would that mean hiring more firefighters or increasing the water supply?
“Those are decisions that politicians have to work with their community because what is right for each community will depend on how much they are willing to pay,” Sheach said.
Reducing risk means spending more money, he explained, calling the situation a gigantic “risk-reward decision.”
