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Janisse Quiñones (LA DWP); LA Fire (Getty Images)

As the Pacific Palisades neighborhood grapples with one of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles County’s history, firefighters are confronting an unexpected challenge: dry fire hydrants.

The blaze, which has scorched approximately 16,000 acres and destroyed over 1,000 structures, has been exacerbated by powerful Santa Ana winds, with gusts reaching up to 100 mph.

The Palisades Fire, which has scorched over 25,000 acres, remains at 0% containment.

Similarly, the Eaton Fire near Pasadena has burned more than 5,000 acres and is also at 0% containment.

These fires have led to significant destruction, including the loss of over 1,000 structures and at least five fatalities. Evacuation orders have been issued for more than 150,000 residents as emergency services work tirelessly to manage the crisis, The Times reported.

These conditions have not only intensified the flames but also hindered aerial firefighting efforts, as aircraft have been grounded due to the severe winds.

On the ground, firefighters have reported that several hydrants in the area have run dry, severely hampering their efforts to control the inferno.

“There’s no water in the fire hydrants,” Rick Caruso, owner of the Palisades Village shopping center, told The Times. “The firefighters are there, and there’s nothing they can do — we’ve got neighborhoods burning, homes burning, and businesses burning. … It should never happen.”

WATCH:

The recent failure of fire hydrants in Los Angeles County to provide water during a critical fire-fighting effort raises serious questions about the competence and priorities of local officials.

How is it possible that in one of the wealthiest regions in the country, essential infrastructure such as fire hydrants is not adequately maintained or inspected?

Reports have surfaced that a Los Angeles County official responsible for this simple task of overseeing fire hydrant maintenance is raking in an astonishing $750,000 annually.

Janisse Quiñones (Credit: LA DWP)

In April 2024, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) nominated Janisse Quiñones as the new head of the Department of Water and Power (DWP), with an approved annual salary of $750,000.

This is nearly double the salary of her predecessor, Marty Adams, who only made $447,082 annually.

LA Times reported at the time:

The Board of Water and Power Commissioners on Tuesday voted to approve a salary for Bass nominee Janisse Quiñones that is significantly higher than the $447,082 currently earned by General Manager Marty Adams.

Quiñones, former senior vice president of electric operations at Pacific Gas & Electric Co., was picked by Bass after a nationwide search. Adams is retiring in June after four decades at the head of the troubled agency, where turnover is particularly high in the top ranks.

The City Council last year approved a new salary range — $435,034.80 to $751,011.84 — for the general managers of the city’s utility, port and airport, which went into effect in December after Adams announced his retirement.

Top executives at investor-owned utilities, such as PG&E, typically earn multimillion-dollar salaries, while those at public utilities take home much less.

Quiñones’ salary is in line with top executives’ salaries at the Omaha Public Power District in Nebraska and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, according to public records.

Of course, the DEI CEO and chief engineer of the LADWP, Janisse Quiñones, attributed the issue to an unprecedented strain on the water system.

“Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure,” Quiñones continued.

“If there’s a message you take away from me today, is, I need our customers to really conserve water — not just in the Palisades area, but the whole system because the fire department needs the water to fight the fires,” Quiñones added.

She added, per Santa Monica Daily Press, “We’re fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging… The utility has deployed 20 water tanks from construction crews to support firefighting operations, with tankers making 30-minute round trips to refill.

“Because we’re pushing the water system so hard, our water quality is decreasing. So we’re going to be issuing a boil water notice this morning, and I will extend for about 48 hours. The water quality is low. We have a lot of ash in the system, and so please, if you’re going to be drinking water, you need to boil the water.”

Quiñones also assered that the system will need to adapt as “climate change” makes fires like these more frequent.

“How are we going to change the way we operate our water systems for events like this? This is an unprecedented event,” she said.

“I think the 2011 winds was significant from a power perspective, but the fires have really increased the response complexity of this. We had crews trying to mitigate this, and we had to evacuate. We worked with the fire department to try to get back in and try to fill the tanks again. It wasn’t safe to do so. So you’re managing the fires, you’re managing the power outage, and you’re managing the water needs …. So yes, we have to look at our system from a climate resiliency as a region, and it’s going to be more than just DWP, it’s all the water agencies here, including the county.”

Just three months ago, when Trump appeared on the Joe Rogan Podcast, he talked to Joe about the ongoing issue of water dispersal in California and about how the state could stop wildfires by clearing dead trees from forests.

He suggested that the state actually has more than enough water to deal with these and other issues such as farming, but progressive environmental policies are standing in the way.

On Wednesday, Trump blasted Newsom on Truth Social.

“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump wrote.

“He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California, he added. “Now the ultimate price is being paid.”

“I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”

Mayor Bass, who was abroad in Ghana when the fires began, has faced additional criticism for her absence during the crisis. She returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday but declined to answer questions regarding her absence and previous budget cuts to the LAFD.

According to the New York Post, “The water shortage was the result of years of mismanagement of LA’s water system — including a federal indictment of a leader and high profile resignations — as well as major operational problems that drained reserves too quickly.”