As the flames of the Palisades fire licked at his home, Ricardo Kawamura stood in his front yard watching smoke pour out of a second-story window. He saw a fire engine parked next to a hydrant on his street, and called for help.
“They told me they did not have enough water,” Kawamura said. “And unfortunately, there was nothing that they could do at that time.”
As the fire spread, the water system quickly lost pressure as crews drew heavily on hydrants, residents ran sprinklers and hoses, and water gushed out of melted pipes. Hillside tanks ran out of water, and many hydrants, particularly in higher-elevation areas, lost pressure and ran dry…