LAFD was not aware of more than 1,000 fire hydrants that had to be repaired

The Los Angeles fire brigade informed the Department of Water and only made the city in mid -February that more than 1,000 fire hydrants had to be repaired, even though they were aware of the problems months ago.

According to city records and civil servants, the fire brigade discovered the hydrants during the inspections in the months before the Palisades fire of January 7, which destroyed thousands of houses.

While the firefighters had to deal with low water pressure during the fire, it is unclear whether the damaged hydrants played a role.

The conclusion of the joint use of inspection records was made on February 12 when KCBS TV reported that LAFD had put together a list of 1,350 fire hydrants, which require repairs. Some of these repairs seem to have been identified in January 2024 in accordance with the list of the Station received by the LAFD at the request of public records.

In DWP, the KCBS report was fulfilled with a surprise and alarm.

DWP is dependent on LAFD to carry out annual inspections of the approximately 66,000 fire hydrants of the city. In August, DWP received an annual report from LAFD in which the status of the city's hydrants was documented, but none was marked as repairs in accordance with Janisse's Quiñones, Managing Director and General Manager of DWP.

Since the fire of the palisades, DWP had repeatedly stated that it had no pending reports on damaged hydrants. It was only on February 14 that DWP received a list of damaged hydrants after the KCBS report, said Quiñones.

“The report we received [Feb. 14] Was completely different from the report we received in August, ”said Quiñones this week at a meeting of the Board of Power and Water Commissioner. “It was the first time that we saw the” repair “.”

“Any claim that LADWP has received information [about damage] And nothing in relation to the hydrants is wrong, ”added Anselmo Collins, head of DWP's water operation, at the board meeting.

The episode is another problem in the city's fire brigade after the fire of the Palisades and, since the former LAFD boss Kristin Crowley tries to cancel the decision of Mayor Karen Bass to terminate it.

As reasons for shooting crowley, bass quoted her failure to make firefighters in front of the fire in front of the Palisades, and their refusal to conclude a report on the fatal flame after action.

LAFD did not answer questions about the inspection process of the fire hydrant. A crowley spokesman did not give back calls or answered questions.

Although DWP has and is responsible for maintaining the city's fire hydrants, the task is to inspect them in LAFD. Every year, the fire brigade's supply company pays around 2.5 million US dollars -drawn from the income from interest payers -to carry out the inspections and report the results.

In recent years, the number of repairs of the hydrants has varied significantly, according to Collins, the head of the water operation.

“In 2021 we only have five hydrants that had to be repaired. We have 375 in 2022, ”said Collins at the board meeting this week. “So it is a big fluctuation, and everything depends on what the fire brigade finds when you carry out your inspections.”

The list made available in August included 66,000 fire hydrants, their locations and whether they were owned by DWP or a private party. No damage or repairs were detailed, but categorized about 40% of the hydrants as a “needs inspection”.

After KCBS was reported over 1,350 hydrants, which were classified as repairs, DWP urged the information to be obtained.

“This idea that there were some somehow 1,350 hydrants was completely new to us,” said Joe Ramallo, head of communication and customer service for DWP.

DWP received the list on February 14 with the damaged hydrants with a separate column in which the required repairs were described. More than 120 were listed as “dry”. Some had broken valves and others a curved, narrow or otherwise damaged tribe. More than 100 loosened while a handful of vegetation was blocked.

Not all hydrants are on the list under DWP declaration. Around 100 of them are private hydrants whose repairs are to be carried out by owners. And dozens were disabled by homeless or camp, so that their status was unclear.

From Tuesday, DWP announced that around 200 of the hydrants had set it.

At the DWP board meeting, Ramallo suggested that LAFD had not yet explained what happened.

“We still don't have a clear idea except that we received this list afterwards [Quiñones] I had my hand directly and said: “Please indicate everything you have, because at no time that the department has been informed,” said Ramallo.

Nurit Katz, a commissioner appointed by the mayor, said that LAFD should provide his inspection reports, who are “more common than annually”.

“It seems that it is not so helpful for our teams to find a thousand repairs at once to ensure that they are ready,” said Katz.

Quiñones said she was working with the LAFD interim boss Ronnie Villanueva on a new “quality control” process “so that we have no failure as these in the future”.

“The ultimate goal is that we have functioning fire hydrants in the city, and we should all strive for that,” she said.