After-Action Report on Palisades Fire Released
The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) unveiled its official after-action report regarding the Palisades fire, but notably, it didn’t address the issue of the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which was nearly drained during the incident.
The extensive 76-page report highlighted several shortcomings in LAFD’s response, including insufficient staffing, equipment unavailability due to maintenance issues, and communication failures.
However, it failed to mention that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, with a capacity of 117 million gallons, was depleted during critical firefighting moments. The document did identify that sudden high demand affected water pressure at hydrants, indicating a design flaw in the water system which wasn’t equipped to handle such large-scale wildfire situations.
The report explicitly stated that the local water infrastructure wasn’t built for the intensity of the fire while also experiencing numerous breaks in residential service lines from open water pipes. This system was primarily intended for everyday residential and commercial use and struggled under the extreme needs created by rapid vegetation fires and pipe leaks. As a result, firefighters were facing water supply issues because leaking pipes were depleting resources faster than what could be reintegrated into local tanks, thus affecting both water pressure and availability.
In a different area, the Eaton Fire hydrant also experienced drought but did not face the same reservoir challenges.
Overall, the lack of water in the reservoir was a significant hindrance to firefighting efforts, a detail curiously excluded from the after-action report. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is currently embroiled in a lawsuit concerning its involvement in the fire, which includes issues related to the reservoir and power lines that may have sparked a separate fire.
A criminal complaint against Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, includes arson charges and states that LADWP wasn’t connected to the initial small Lachman Fire that occurred on New Year’s Day, which ignited again on January 7, becoming the Palisades Fire and leading to destruction over more than 23,000 acres and nearly 7,000 structures.
