LA Fire Chief Says City Failed Her Department: ‘We Expect There’s Gonna Be Water’ in Hydrants
Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley told a local reporter on Friday that elected officials in her city failed the department before Tuesday’s spate of wildfires killed at least 10 people, razed thousands of buildings, and ravaged much of LA County.
Crowley spoke to Fox11 reporter Gigi Graciette Friday afternoon after LA city and county firefighters tried their best on a fourth consecutive day to save lives and property. Fires had made thousands homeless in Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and other areas in or near Los Angeles.
Hydrants in Palisades and other areas were empty or nearly empty as first responders attempted to battle the blazes in dry conditions and while facing strong winds.
Friday afternoon, California Governor Gavin Newsom called for an investigation into why the hydrants were empty.
While citing LA’s empty Santa Ynez Reservoir, Graciette asked Crowley, “Did the city of Los Angeles fail you and your department and our city?”
Crowley at first declined to answer the question and explained her department had been tasked with protecting the public and had failed to do so. Graciette cut in and asked her, “Did they fail you?”
The chief again took a diplomatic approach to answering the question before Graciette cut in again and asked, “Did they fail you?”
Crowley replied, “Yes.”
Graciette noted the empty reservoir could have offered more than 11 million gallons fire crews could have used to battle devastating fires such as the one that took out much of the Palisades. Crowley responded:
So my stance on this is when a firefighter comes up to a hydrant, we expect there’s going to be water. We don’t control the water supply. Our firefighters are there to protect lives and property and to make sure that we’re properly trained and equipped. That’s my position on this. So if there’s no water, I don’t know how the water gets to the hydrants. Please defer that to DWP or whomever controls that part. But I can tell you the resiliency of our firefighters. If there’s no water, they’re going to go find water. They’re going to figure out a way to do the best they can with what they’ve got in a very dynamic situation.
Watch above via Fox11.
