The pictures of the raging wildland fires in Los Angeles County tell a grim story: Santa Ana winds carry embers a long way in a very short time. Whole neighborhoods were affected by the flames in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and in several other locations including Pasadena, Altadena, and Sylmar.These citiesare not in the middle of a forest, they are suburban communities: low rise ranch-style homes, separated by side and back yards. Some vegetation obviously existed in the various locations and all were served by fire protection services with fire hydrants well placed.
Nobody seemed to envision this situation despite other fire that roared down the canyons with similar results. A rethinking of fire protection efforts is necessary and with it, the expenses that go along with those improvements.
Over 100 years ago, the San Francisco earthquake which spawned the fire that destroyed the downtown section of the City, gave rise to efforts to protect the inhabitants and their property. A well designed and engineered water system was the result. The key to the system was the design of a separate firefighting water system that served the high value district(downtown) with high pressure pipes fed by static reservoirs and tanks strategically placed so gravity could provide the pressure. The entire system was inter-connected and available only for fire department usage. Almost 2 million gallons of fresh water is available. Additionally, two standby pump house were constructed to make SF bay water available. These 2 stations are on the edge of SF Bay and can provided unlimited amounts of salt water which works as well as fresh.
Looking at the scenes in SoCAl, one wonders why nobody wanted to provide access to the Pacific Ocean, the obvious source of unlimited supply that could have thwarted the worst fires. Next time.
Sad to think that it could have been different if only. If only politicians looked ahead as this situation was easily foreseen.
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