Fast winds, dry ground, loss of hydrant pressure and lacking personnel. These are some conditions of the LA California fires, which have gotten worse since they started on Jan. 7, 2025.
“Around 120,000 people have had to evacuate and many more in the surrounding area have been set on a wildfire watch,” Science teacher Elise Carpenter said. ”I have a cousin that lives in Burbank, they are what we would have as a tornado watch.”
To add more fuel to the fire, The LA area fire departments had a major budget cut of 17 million later last year that led to, as LA county fire chief Anthony Marrone said, “ We don’t have the personnel in LA county, between all of the departments, to handle this.”
Not only do they not have the personnel, but the fire hydrants ran dry on Jan. 7, Tuesday night. Having the hydrants run dry created larger, more powerful fire growth and more burned homes.
According to a Water resource expert at UCLA, Greg Peirce pointed out that it might not have mattered “I don’t know a water system in the world that is prepared for this type of event.”
