Local fire officials acknowledged Wednesday that they were overwhelmed by the power and size of the three major fires burning in Los Angeles County and that crews and resources were taxed to the extreme.
Firefighters were heard on emergency radios requesting additional support and crews, L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone acknowledged Wednesday, admitting there was simply not enough manpower for an emergency of this size.
“We tried to get them the help they needed,” Marrone said Wednesday. “We’re doing the very best we can. But no, we don’t have enough fire personnel in L.A. County between all the departments to handle this.”
There are 9,000 firefighters in Los Angeles County between the county’s fire department and 29 other fire agencies, Marrone said, which is “not enough” to address all the fires that had started across the region during one of the strongest wind events in years.
Late Tuesday, Marrone said he requested mutual aid from nearby counties, as well as additional crews and trucks from California’s Office of Emergency Services and from out of state, all of which have responded and are on the way, he said Wednesday.
Still, officials said they had a game plan for what was being billed as a potenitally “life-threatening” windstorm. Marrone said firefighters from Northern California were “pre-positioned” in places known for bad fires: the Santa Clarita Valley and Santa Monica Mountains.
But the fires broke out in different areas including Pacific Palisades, Altadena and Sylmar.
“L.A. County and all 29 fire departments in our county are not prepared for this type of widespread disaster,” Marrone said.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley agreed, adding: “Together, these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits.”
On Wednesday, the roughly 1,500 firefighters assigned to the Eaton and Palisades fires were bracing for another challenging day of fire fueled by extreme winds.
“We are absolutely not out of danger yet,” Crowley said.
Crowley said that all aircraft were grounded Tuesday night at about 7:30 p.m. due to high winds, and remained out of the air through at least 9 a.m. Wednesday.
The lack of air support left firefighters on the ground doing what they could to save homes and stop the flames, which proved to be almost an impossible challenge given the intense winds.
Another issue firefighters faced was a lack of water in some hydrants in Pacific Palisades, where more than 1,000 homes were lost. Firefighters there were heard on radio transmission complaining about the problem. The Department of Water and Power said the issue arose due to unprecedented strain on the system.
“We had a tremendous demand on our system in the Palisades. We pushed the system to the extreme,” Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Wednesday morning. “Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure.”
