Newsom Says ‘We Need Answers’ on Lack of Water Access During LA Wildfires, Calls for Independent Investigation
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for an independent investigation Friday into the loss of water pressure from local fire hydrants crucially needed while combatting the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles this week.
The governor announced the call through a memo released on his social media account on Friday afternoon. “We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to fight these catastrophic fires,” he said.
“The ongoing reports of the loss of water pressure to some local fire hydrants during the fires and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are deeply troubling to me and to the community,” Newsom wrote in the memo. “While water supplies from local fire hydrants are not designed to extinguish wildfires over large areas, losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors.”
The governor’s memo continued: “We need answers to how that happened. Therefore, I have directed state water and firefighting officials to prepare an independent after-incident report examining the causes of lost water supply and water pressure in municipal water systems during the fire events, and to identify measures that local governments can implement to provide adequate water supply for emergency response during future catastrophic events.”
NEW: I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) January 10, 2025
We need answers to ensure this does not happen again and we have every resource available to… pic.twitter.com/R0vq0wwZph
The L.A. wildfires began on Tuesday afternoon and continued to burn through the week. By Friday’s count, at least eight people are dead, 10,000 structures have been destroyed and 153,000 locals are now under evacuation orders.
The Palisades fire is currently at 8% containment, having burned 20,438 acres since it began on Tuesday. Elsewhere, the Eaton fire has burned 13,690 acres now at 3% containment, with the Kenneth fire still at 1,000 acres, the Hurst fire at 771 acres and the Lidia fire nearly contained at 395 acres.
Newsom has been the focus of blame from a number of politicians for the city’s response to the numerous firestorms. Most notably President-elect Donald Trump called out the governor for the city’s lack of water to fight the fires.
“Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Wednesday.
Trump continued, “He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid. I will demand that this incompetent governor allow beautiful, clean, fresh water to FLOW INTO CALIFORNIA! He is the blame for this. On top of it all, no water for fire hydrants, not firefighting planes. A true disaster!”
The post Newsom Says ‘We Need Answers’ on Lack of Water Access During LA Wildfires, Calls for Independent Investigation appeared first on TheWrap.