Los Angeles fires: questions and criticisms surrounding fire-fighting infrastructure

By their brilliance and intensity, the fires that have ravaged Los Angeles since Tuesday have put its firefighting infrastructure under severe strain, giving rise to questions and criticism.

The fact is striking: fire hydrants which find themselves dry in the middle of fighting the flames, in the upscale district of Pacific Palisades, devoured since Tuesday by the main source of this violent wave of fires.

“We need answers to find out what happened”Democratic Governor of California Gavin Newsom wrote in an open letter on Friday.

Qualifying as “deeply disturbing” the lack of water supply and loss of pressure at fire hydrants occurred in the early hours, he asked “a comprehensive independent review” water distribution services in the second largest city in the United States.

“The network in a city like Los Angeles, which is actually a collection of cities more than a century old, is designed to fight fires in individual homes. Services are structured to respond to fires in commercial or residential buildings”explains to AFP Chris Sheah, professor of disaster management at Paul Smith University, on the east coast.

“The amount of water used in a fire” of this type “is very different from that used for a fire that affects thousands of hectares. They had so many trucks hooked up, so many things pulling on the system, it’s no surprise it was overwhelmed.”estimates the specialist. “That is to be expected. »

Lack “personnel, resources and funds”

The first operations carried out subjected the system to a water demand four times higher than normal for around fifteen hours, assesses the head of the city’s water and energy department Janisse Quiñones in the New York Times.

Beyond that, the head of the Los Angeles fire department, Kristin Crowley, is alarmed by a lack of structural resources.

“I’ve been saying for three years that we need more help. The current situation cannot continue any longer”she insisted on Friday on CNN, regretting that her services were lacking “personnel, resources and funds”.

“We have data that shows we need 62 additional fire stations, that there has been a 55% increase in call volume since 2010. And guess what? We are responding with fewer firefighters”she gets annoyed.

If his mother’s house, in the disaster-stricken town of Altadena, miraculously escaped the furious flames, “California is a burning state, we should not be overwhelmed when it comes to firefighters”exclaims Kalen Astoor, a thirty-year-old legal assistant. “This is where we have to put money: (against) earthquakes and fires. »

A few days before his return to the White House, President-elect Donald Trump seized on these dramatic events, among other things by accusing outgoing President Joe Biden and the governor of California, both Democrats, of“gross incompetence” and of “bad management”. “It’s all his fault!!! »attacked the Republican about Gavin Newsom.

“This is their reality”

“The fact that there are so few people dead (eleven according to the authorities’ latest report), despite the massive material losses, testifies to the timely action of the authorities and the firefighters. People are not trapped, which is a significant risk with such powerful winds and dry conditions.”notes Chris Sheah.

“California firefighters are among the best in the world. They are so well trained at these fires, more so than most places, because this is their reality.”he continues.

How can we better combat them in the future?

“Are we expanding the water network to increase the supply? Are we hiring more firefighters? »asks the expert. “These are issues that politicians must manage with the local population. It’s a benefit-risk calculation: we can reduce the risk by so much, it will cost so much more. »

“There were up to more than 8,000 firefighters mobilized. And all those in the region who were not working were called back”he continues. “Do we need a system of this scale all the time and are we willing to pay for it”? That’s the whole question. »