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The Los Angeles public utility lacks a common safety procedure that might have prevented water from being pumped to fire hydrants during an intentional power shutdown, even though President Biden said the outage caused the problem.
Republican, including President-elect Trumphave blamed Democratic officials – at least in part – for the water shortage that has hampered efforts to fight the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County. But Democrats have rejected those claims, and on Thursday Biden suggested that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) bears responsibility for shutting off power to the pumps that feed the fire hydrants.
“I know from conversations with the governor that there are concerns that there have also been water shortages,” Biden told reporters. “The fact is that the power companies understandably turned off the power because they feared that the lines that carried energy would be destroyed and could cause further fires. When they did that, they disrupted the ability to pump water – that’s what caused the water shortage in those fire hydrants.”
Biden noted that after the shutdown, generators were deployed to restore power to pumps and ensure there would no longer be a shortage of water to fight fires.
Firefighters roll up a hose used to fight the Eaton Fire after a fire hydrant ran out of water, as strong winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area forced people to evacuate, in Altadena, California, USA , January 9, 2025. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
But a report from the Wall Street Journal The procedure unveiled Friday highlighted that LADWP is the only major utility in California without an intentional shutdown protocol, known as a Public Safety Power Shut Off procedure. The protocol includes plans to proactively shut down certain power lines during dangerous storms and limit the impact public safety.
“Preparing for a power outage requires careful planning that begins with properly designing our water systems and working with local fire departments and energy companies to ensure community safety,” says California Water Service, a private utility provider in the State’s FAQ page on its website discusses power shutoffs for public safety.
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“We go to great lengths beyond our standard procedures to ensure that water supplies are not interrupted in the event of a power outage,” the company added. “Cal Water has installed permanent generators at several of our critical stations over the years, and we are working to introduce additional, portable generators to other stations. Our crews and employees have also been trained in emergency procedures in the event widespread shutdowns occur.”
Michael Wara, a lawyer who directs the climate and energy policy program at Stanford University and studies wildfire mitigation strategies, added to the Wall Street Journal that “there is no trade-off between reliability and safety.”
Firefighters battle the Kenneth Fire in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday, January 9, 2025. (Photo/Ethan Swope)
Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy at the California Policy Center, confirmed that measures could be taken to maintain power to pumps during an intentional shutdown.
“They need to put those power lines underground, that would be the solution, or they need parallel systems that serve vital services like fire hydrant pumps that are not on the same circuit as the lines that go into homes,” Ring said.
A spokesperson for LADWP told Fox News Digital that in the absence of a public safety shutdown protocol in Los Angeles, a different procedure is being used to reduce the risk of fire while maintaining vital functions. The spokesman said Los Angeles’ urban environment is different from the environments other California utilities serve.
“LADWP worked closely with the Los Angeles Fire Department to develop this emergency protocol,” the spokesperson said. “LADWP’s plan will be reviewed every three years by an independent third party and submitted to state regulators as necessary.”
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the LADWP has assured in the past that it will not turn off power ahead of strong winds.
A firefighter removes a hose from a fire hydrant that is running out of water while battling the fire in Eaton after a fire hydrant ran out of water as strong winds fueling devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area killed people in January Altadena, California, force evacuation 9/2025. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
Former Los Angeles firefighter John Knox, the spoke to Fox News on Friday, said he was “surprised” to hear the fire hydrants were drying up, adding that there are “a lot of things people have to ask to get answers from these so-called leaders.”
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“I’ve never experienced this in my career – every now and then you might have a dry hydrant, but we do annual testing in January where we test all the hydrants and that didn’t happen this year,” Knox said. “There is a very large reservoir in this area with four huge tanks that should be constantly filled. My understanding is that there was one of these that was out of service for maintenance for a year during peak brush season.
“There are many problems and many things that need to be asked by the people to get answers from these so-called leaders.”
