Why fire hydrants were never going to be enough to combat L.A.’s fires

Public figures have questioned L.A.’s ‘dry’ fire hydrants, but experts say the hydrant system wasn’t designed for this intensity of fire.

At 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the first of three municipal water tanks in Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood ran dry, as emergency responders stretched the system to its limits in combatting the widespread wildfires. The second water tank was empty by 8:30 p.m. that night, followed by the third at 3 a.m. on Wednesday, according to local officials.