As the Pacific Palisades fire raged, consuming homes and threatening lives, firefighters faced an unthinkable crisis: empty hydrants. The uphill reservoir that once fed the lifeblood of firefighting efforts had been drained, leaving crews without the water pressure to battle the advancing inferno. It was not a natural disaster that sealed the fate of so many homes, but a man-made oversight—a decision to decommission a vital water source for over 10 months without creating a practical replacement.
The result was catastrophic.
For decades, the primary uphill reservoir in Pacific Palisades ensured that firefighters had immediate access to high-pressure water in emergencies. Sitting 1,000 feet above sea level, this reservoir was strategically placed to gravity-feed water to dozens of hydrants across the area. But in its absence, Los Angeles failed to provide a viable alternative.
During the recent Pacific Palisades fire, this decision came to haunt the city. With fire crews relying on hydrants that went dry at critical moments, flames were left unchecked for precious minutes, turning what could have been a contained blaze into a disaster that swept through the hillsides. Residents who lost their homes are now left asking the same question: Why was no temporary solution put in place?
Replacing a reservoir is no small task, but neither is it impossible. Engineering solutions exist that could have filled the gap. For instance, a temporary pumping station on the Malibu coastline could have delivered ocean water uphill to the hydrant network. While the technical challenges of lifting water 1,000 feet over a 1.5-mile distance are considerable, they are not insurmountable.
A system of five industrial pumps, each capable of moving 12,000 gallons per minute, would have restored the flow needed to supply up to 60 hydrants simultaneously. Such a station would require around 19,000 horsepower and cost roughly $14.6 million to construct—a fraction of the billions of dollars that are the cost of the 1000+ homes and untold memories lost to the Pacific Palisades fire. With an average home price in the Palisades of about $3.4M, those 1000 homes translate to $3.4 Billion just in property value lost, not counting all other costs. And this is just for the Palisades fire.
Operational costs for this system, even during a prolonged fire, would have been manageable. Running the pumps for eight hours to meet firefighting demands would have required around $23,000 in electricity—pennies compared to the millions in damage caused by the fire. Yet, despite the feasibility, Los Angeles chose to gamble on the safety of its residents.
City officials argue that the reservoir was taken offline for critical repairs, a necessary step to maintain long-term infrastructure. But the decision to do so without ensuring an alternative water supply represents a glaring mistake. Temporary water systems are a well-known engineering solution, used in cities and industries worldwide. Failing to act on such measures was not just a matter of ignorance.
This mistake becomes even harder to ignore when considering the advanced planning required to decommission a reservoir. City leaders had months, if not years, to anticipate the consequences of this decision. Yet, instead of creating redundancy in the system, they left Pacific Palisades vulnerable during its driest months of the year.
For the residents of Pacific Palisades, the loss is deeply personal. Homes that withstood decades of wildfires fell in mere hours. Entire streets now stand as ashen reminders of what happens when safety is compromised for convenience. Despite their bravery, firefighters were left fighting an uphill battle—literally—without the tools they needed to succeed.
Los Angeles prides itself on resilience, on being a city that leads in innovation and infrastructure. But in this instance, it failed its residents. The Pacific Palisades fire was not just a natural disaster; it was a failure of foresight, planning, and responsibility. Be aware of red herring news blaming or identifying threats that are not real, like the electric vehicle fire “epidemic” that is often voiced in the press. Don’t fall for stories that distract from more obvious conclusions.
The city must now reckon with the consequences of its choices and ensure that such mistakes never happen again. The solution is clear: redundancy in critical systems. Whether through temporary pumping stations, auxiliary reservoirs, or other engineering innovations, Los Angeles must invest in protecting its residents and their homes. As Pacific Palisades fire victims begin to rebuild, they deserve more than apologies. They deserve action. And the city owes them nothing less.
