XPost: alt.wildland.firefighting, ca.water, alt.los-angeles
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics

https://freebeacon.com/california/empty-reservoirs-and-budget-cuts-what- we-know-about-las-disaster-prep-ahead-of-deadly-fires/

A 117-million gallon Los Angeles reservoir was empty when the disastrous
fires struck the City of Angels because city leaders scheduled it for maintenance—during fire season. And just a week before the firestorm
exploded, Mayor Karen Bass called for nearly $50 million in cuts to the
Los Angeles Fire Department—after its chief had already warned that a $7 million reduction to the overtime budget "severely limited" its response
to wildfires.

These revelations add to the growing criticisms of Bass and her
administration leading up to fires that have been labeled the most
devastating in the region’s history.

With the Santa Ynez Reservoir dry, firefighters had to depend on three million-gallon tanks as they tried to contain the fire that soon spiraled
out of control. As of Friday morning, it was just 8 percent contained and
has burned more than 20,000 acres, destroying nearly 10,000 structures and forcing more than 150,000 people to evacuate. The reservoir’s closure was
first reported by the Instagram account LAFD Watchdog, which an anonymous
Los Angeles fire official runs.

Officials with the Department of Water and Power, which manages the
reservoirs, told the Los Angeles Times that it’s still evaluating how the closure hurt firefighters’ battle against the Palisades Fire. They said
the Santa Ynez Reservoir was taken offline to repair a tear in the cover,
which was necessary to comply with water regulations, but didn’t indicate
how long it had been inoperable. The department did not immediately
respond to the Washington Free Beacon’s request for comment.

The department’s chief engineer, Janisse Quiñones, confirmed Wednesday
that water tanks and about 200 hydrants in the Pacific Palisades
neighborhood went dry early in the fight. Other department officials at
the press conference told reporters that the municipal system wasn’t
designed to fight wildfires. They have also been urging Los Angeles
residents to conserve water to make sure there’s enough for the fires.

Quiñones’s predecessor at the water department, Martin Adams, said water pressure would have been maintained longer if the Santa Ynez Reservoir had
been in operation, though he added that it wouldn’t have "saved the day."

Meanwhile, Bass threatened $49 million in additional cuts to the fire department the week before the fires broke out, which would have added $17 million she had already slashed. In a memo dated Jan. 6, the day before
the fires started, fire officials warned that this potential cut would
close 16 fire stations. That memo was also leaked by LAFD Watchdog, this
time to the Daily Mail.

The fire department was working through a $48.8 million "budget reduction exercise" with the city attorney’s office, which determined that the only
way to get to the desired cost savings would be "to close as many as 16
fire stations" around the city, according to the memo, which LAFD Watchdog leaked to the Daily Mail.

The $17 million Bass already cut from the fire department’s budget
included axing $7 million in overtime pay, which the fire chief had warned
last month would hamper preparation for wide-scale emergencies like
wildfires.

Bass did not respond to a request for comment. She has said she’s
confident those cuts did not hurt the fire response.

Published under: California , Fires , Karen Bass , Los Angeles


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