Newsom orders state investigation into Los Angeles fire hydrant failures amid blazes

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered the state water and firefighting officials to investigate the cause of a lack of water pressure that made fire hydrants unusable during the Palisades Fire in Southern California this week.

Reports that fire hydrants in Los Angeles were drying up began circulating on Tuesday and Wednesday, as four large wildfires burned across the county. 

Newsom claimed in a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Los Angeles County Public Works that the reports of a loss in water pressure in the hydrants and a lack of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir were "troubling." 

"While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” Newsom wrote. “We need answers to how that happened.”

The governor ordered the agencies to conduct a report documenting possible causes of the issues and an examination of local preparedness efforts and response procedures. But the letter did not include a timeline for when the report would be released.

He also said state water and firefighting officials will prepare an independent after-incident report on the lack of water pressure and water supplies from the reservoir. 

The LA Department of Water and Power has acknowledged the reports of the hydrants lacking water, but refuted claims on Wednesday that water tanks in the area were not filled to capacity.

“We saw four times the demands of water that we’ve ever seen in the system,” LA Department of Water and Power CEO Janisse Quiñones said, per Politico. “We opened every valve available to push as much water into the Palisades area. This fire was different and unprecedented because they didn’t have air resources to fight it.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.