Years before LA inferno, California’s fire and water management policies raised fears of catastrophe

Years before wildfires reduced Los Angeles’ most famous neighborhoods to charred rubble and forced thousands to flee, audits and reports repeatedly raised concerns that California’s water management and fire prevention policies would one day lead to a catastrophic inferno.

The concerns ranged from failed regulatory efforts to make utility transmission wires more fire safe to the management of vegetation and brush clearing and water supplies in an oft drought-stricken state, according to documents reviewed by Just the News.

A major problem that first responders have been facing amid this week’s wildfires is fire hydrants drying up, resulting in a lack of water to get the fires under control.

Janisse Quiñones, chief executive and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, acknowledged all three 1-million-gallon water tanks in the area ran dry by 3 a.m. Wednesday, reducing water pressure for fire hydrants at higher elevations.

President Joe Biden was forced on Wednesday to order the Pentagon to deploy 10 Navy helicopters to help fight the half dozen fires raging across Southern California. 

President-elect Donald Trump slammed Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying if he had signed a water restoration declaration back in 2019, there would have been enough water to manage the fires.

"Governor Gavin Newscum [sic] 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 on TRUTH Social.

In 2019, the Trump administration proposed that more water be pumped from Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to supply farms to preserve more water.

However, there are limitations on how much water can be pumped in order to protect a rare species of fish called smelt, according to Cal Matters.

"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," Trump argued Wednesday. "Now the ultimate price is being paid."

During his first administration, Trump often put pressure on Newsom to step up wildfire prevention, saying he would withhold funds if he refused to do so.

"There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump wrote in a 2018 tweet. "Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!"

The fires spread quickly in large part because the lack of rain in the region has resulted in parched and powerful Santa Anna winds. Thousands of people have had to evacuate and many people have lost their homes. 

"This is another example of complete failure of Democrat governance across the board," Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on the Just the News, No Noise TV show. "I mean, you have to maintain your forests. You have to clean them up.....you have to actually save water."

Regarding water management, Johnson said that there is abundant water coming out of the mountains with the snow packs.

"They don't save it because they got to save the snail darter," he added. "And they're not keeping their electrical grid up to snuff. That's a big problem across the board."

Other people have complained that California's policies on clearing brush haven't helped the wildfire situation. 

"Ever wonder why these fires in California burn so much?" one user wrote on the social media platform, X. "Last time I was in California I shot this video of what the hills look like. They don’t clear any of the dead brush or broken limbs. Now add strong winds to the equation and you can understand why."

"At a minimum, California and the feds should have been strategically cleaning up the last two years of brush build-up to reduce the potential for catastrophic fires," another user wrote.

The Los Angeles Fire Department does allow clearing brush in order to prevent fires. However, there are some restrictions such as it cannot be done on red flag days and those clearing it cannot be involved in any other activities besides clearing brush. 

Former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell in the Bush administration, Bobby Charles, called California a "failed state."

"What we're witnessing here is a classic failed state," Charles said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "California has made so many bad decisions for so long."

The state of California has had a long history of not properly preparing for wildfires, according to multiple audits and reports.

According to a 2022 report given to the California Legislature, the Public Utilities Commission hasn't used its authority properly to make sure power companies upgraded their equipment to make sure it is more resistant to areas that are high-risk for fires.

Cal Matters reported that some of California's largest wildfires have been caused by power lines that have been uninsulated. When older transformers and lines are down, high winds that result in flying debris can cause sparks to occur. 

California’s investor-owned electric companies were criticized in a state audit for lack of wildfire safety oversight. 

“Given the nightmarish wildfires that have become part of normal life in recent years, California taxpayers would be right to ask if they’re paying for utility watchdogs or lap dogs at the CPUC and the Energy Safety Office,” said Environmental Working Group President and Bay Area resident Ken Cook said in a statement. “The failure of regulators to aggressively oversee and punish the reckless and deadly behavior of companies like PG&E cannot be overstated, and Californians should be clamoring for accountability.”