Even as flames in Southern California continued to carve a destructive path on Friday and fire officials sought to assess the damage and determine how the fires began, a larger question loomed: Could this level of devastation somehow have been minimized, or is this simply the new normal in an era of climate-related calamities?
Los Angeles city and county officials have characterized the fires as a “perfect storm” event in which hurricane-force gusts of up to 100 miles per hour prevented them from deploying crucial aircraft that could have dropped water and fire retardant on the drought-ravaged neighborhoods early on. The consensus of experts interviewed by CNN was that the combination of those winds, unseasonably dry conditions and multiple fires breaking out one after another in the same geographic region made widespread destruction inevitable.
Nonetheless, humans could have taken some steps to potentially lessen the impact of Mother Nature’s wrath. Inconsistent vegetation management, aging infrastructure and homes, and a lack of planning likely contributed to fires that have so far scorched more than 55 square miles, destroyed thousands of structures and left at least 10 people dead.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass promised a full investigation. “Rest assured…we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, and what didn’t work, and to correct – or to hold accountable – anybody, department, individual, etcetera,” she said.
‘Got dry hydrants’
Part of that investigation is certain to focus on a key ingredient in fighting fires: water.
As high winds stoked flames Wednesday morning, firefighters could be heard on radio broadcasts relaying an alarming development.
“We’ve lost most of the hydrant pressure,” one firefighter said around 2:45 a.m. as he requested help refilling fire engines, according to a county dispatch recording.
“Got dry hydrants,” said another.
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