LA’s $750k-a-year water boss struggles to explain why fire hydrants ran dry in bumbling video about inferno response

Los Angeles’ water boss, who earns $750,000 a year, can’t quite explain in a clumsy video why fire hydrants went dry during the disastrous wildfires.

At a news conference Wednesday, Janisse Quiñones, the newly appointed CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said all water storage tanks in the Pacific Palisades area have “gone dry” as the flames continued to rage.

At least seven people have been killed and nearly 180,000 people forced from their homes in the most devastating fire in the province’s history.

Quiñones, who previously worked for PG&E before being appointed in May, said the third water tank was empty around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday, after the first tank was empty around 4:45 p.m., and the second at about 8:30 p.m. — each at about 1,000 .000. gallons each.

“Those tanks help with the pressure on the fire hydrants in the Palisades Hills, and because we were pushing so much water into our main line, and so much water was used before it could reach the tanks, we were not able to fill the tanks fast enough, she explained.

“So the water usage was faster than we can deliver water in our trunk,” she continued, adding that there is water in the truck line, but it “can’t get up the hill because we can’t fill the tanks fast enough.”

After someone asked her about the number of fire hydrants that can’t get water because of these problems, Quiñones started to stumble over her words.

“We, um, we were trying to hold water at all the elevations of the Palisades, and I think about three o’clock in the morning, when – um – the hydrants over the Brentwood area went dry.”

“We were able to push water on the main line, on the east side of that, um, and we got some water at high altitude – 16-80,000, but at 3,000, all of them, at 3 a.m., all from the hydrants in the Palisades dried up’ she added.

Quiñones said construction crews are now sending about 20 water tanks to firefighters to help them continue to battle the growing fire.

“We have identified other areas in our system where tankers can refill. It takes about 30 minutes to refill about 4,000 gallons of water, and we’re constantly moving that water to the fire department to give them as much water as we do. can.

She further warned that because the department is “straining the water system so much,” the quality of water “is declining in the Palisades area.

Since then, a boil water warning has been issued for the Los Angeles area for the next 48 hours, the CEO said.

Amid the horrific fires, angry LA residents have criticized local politicians for a shocking litany of failures that have exacerbated the deadly wildfires currently ravaging the city.

The complaints range from Mayor Karen Bass being absent from Africa, to fire hydrants running out of water and electricity, to power lines left in place to fan the flames.

Businessman and mayoral candidate Rick Caruso blasted local officials for failing to replenish water supplies despite knowing strong winds were coming that could spark wildfires.

‘Their hands are tied. They cannot extinguish a fire without water and the resources needed to do so. Everyone knew these winds were coming.” Caruso told Fox 11.

‘The other question must be: were all the things in place to limit the damage here?

‘The real problem here for me is twofold. We’ve had decades to clear the brush in these hills that’s spreading so quickly, and the second is: we need water.

“It is my understanding that the reservoir was not refilled in a timely manner to keep the hydrants running… these are basic issues, this is not high science here.

“It’s all about leadership and management that we see a failure in, and all these residents are paying the ultimate price for that.”

Audio of communications between firefighters confirms that first responders ran out of water in some areas.

“We don’t have any water, it’s… we’re doing the best we can up there. We make sure people get out of the way,” said a firefighter.

Attorney and 49-year-old Pacific Palisades native Rachel Darvish, whose home was likely engulfed by the flames, wondered why officials like Mayor Karen Bass hadn’t planned ahead despite knowing “critical” weather conditions were coming.

‘I don’t know if our house is still there. What I can tell you is that I have a photo of the neighbor’s house that is gone,” Darvish told Fox News.

‘We have questions. I know where I am now, but I don’t know where my mayor was when this happened. I now know where she was.’

‘Nobody told us where to go or what to do. I didn’t even have an evacuation order. “I love the fire department, I love our fire personnel (but) we need more, where were they?”

Speaking of Bass, she continued, “If someone was put in charge of my city, where would you be? Where were you when the decisions should have been made about how to get there and back somewhere.”

Many celebrities saw their millions of dollars worth of homes burned to the ground as the fire spread to the Hollywood Hills, prompting criticism of city officials accused of failing to adequately prepare for the disaster.