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Officials are using ocean water to battle the fires sweeping across the Los Angeles area, but the move could bring consequences.

Frank Papalia, a former New York City Fire Department lieutenant and fire safety expert at Global Security Group, told Fox News that although firefighters sometimes use saltwater, it can damage equipment, infrastructure, and wildlife.

Papalia noted there are times when it is necessary to use saltwater despite the problems it can cause.

“In this case, your city is burning to the ground, so using the saltwater is not that bad. The problem is they are limited to how many aircraft they can fly at one time, how far they have to go, and how much water those can hold. You couldn’t fly yesterday because of the wind,” he added.

Video footage shows the utter destruction of the Pacific Palisades area. There appears to be nothing left but ash and rubble:

The fires have been spreading over a period of four days in Los Angeles County, destroying over 10,000 structures and taking the lives of several people, Fox Weather reported on Friday.

The outlet noted that firefighters have mostly avoided using seawater to battle the fires that are wreaking havoc on communities because “the salt content can corrode equipment like pumps and other metal tools used in the firefight.”

The report continued:

Additionally, saltwater is widely considered to be a less effective cooling agent compared to freshwater, further hindering efforts if the water was used to try to control the flames.

Some planes and airdrops are specially designed to use seawater without significant repercussions on the equipment, but the combination of gusty winds and difficult terrain complicated efforts in fighting the series of blazes.

Officials told the Los Angeles Times that a reservoir in Pacific Palisades was closed for repairs and empty when the fires erupted, Breitbart News reported on Friday.

The empty Santa Ynez Reservoir, which connects to the Los Angeles water supply system, was shut down for repairs before wildfires began ravaging the Los Angeles area. (Joel Pollak/Breitbart News)