The water system that supplies neighborhoods simply doesn't have the capacity to deliver such large volumes of water over several hours, said Martin Adams, former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
'The system has never been designed to fight a wildfire that then envelops a community,' Adams said in an interview with The Times.
The firefighting efforts put the area's water system under tremendous strain and 'pushed the system to the extreme,' with four times the usual water demand for 15 hours, said Janisse Quiñones, DWP's chief.
When a wildfire erupts, L.A. fire crews often turn to using aircraft to drop water and fire retardant. But while the flames were spreading rapidly on Tuesday and Wednesday, officials temporarily grounded water-dropping helicopters because of the extraordinarily strong Santa Ana winds.
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