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Wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles’ infrastructure as they continue to rage in parts of the area, fueled by strong winds and fueled by climate change. While it is still too early to take a full toll on the impact, the fires have killed at least 24 people, displaced more than 100,000 residents and destroyed at least 12,000 structuresaccording to The Guardian.
Those numbers are likely to grow: The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, which could delay progress.
The conflagrations have so far consumed more than 62 square miles, an area larger than San Francisco firefighters continue to fight for control of the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire, according to AP News. No government agency has yet provided an estimate of the cost of the damage, but AccuWeather puts that number, including economic losses, between $250 billion and $275 billion — making them the costliest fires in US history.
sewer, water and electricity in the area the infrastructures have been badly damagedLA County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said at a Jan. 9 briefing as crews worked to restore utilities. Massive amounts of debris, including thousands of fallen trees and burned structural materials, must be removed before repairs can begin, Pestrella said.
The DPW is leading the debris removal effort, and the agency plans to conduct a cleanup review of all properties affected by the firesaid Pestrella.
The fires have hit roads hard, damaging traffic signals and downing power lines, Janisse Quiñones, director general and chief engineer of the LA Department of Water and Power, said Jan. 9. A large amount of roads in the LA area are closed due to the fires, according to the LA DPW website.
The fires also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people, and while crews have restored access to many as of Tuesday, there are still nearly 20,000 LA DPW customers without power starting Tuesday, PowerOutage.us is showing.
Most of these outages are in Pacific Palisades and Brentwood neighborhoods, as tracked by the LA Department of Water and Power. In addition, some electrical transmission and distribution equipment has been shut down for the safety of firefighters.
Water infrastructures affected
LA’s water infrastructure has come under scrutiny amid the fires, and misinformation has exploded just as quickly. However, as fire hydrants ran dry in Palisades last week, the crux of the problem was not a general lack of water reserves, but a pumping and storage system designed to fight fire to several homes, nor a fire that would quickly consume hundreds of structures, according to the New York Times.
Water from mountain communities such as Palisades is collected in a reservoir that pumps to high-altitude storage tanks. However, those storage tanks and the pumping systems that feed them could not keep up with demand as the fire moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, the Times reported. In part, this was because those who designed the system did not take into account the “breathtaking speeds” at which various fires broke out in the area.
In fact, water tanks in the area are full and used for firefighting, but ash and other materials have contaminated some reserves, Quiñones said. The agency issued a Friday “no drinking” warning. for Pacific Palisades and surrounding neighborhoods due to fire-related pollution.
Large urban fires can melt and otherwise damage pipes, causing large amounts of water to escape and depressurizing the system, which normally keeps out harmful elements. Loss of this critical pressure it can allow ash, smoke, soot and other debris and toxic gases to be sucked into the pipe network, according to AP News.
This loss of pressure can also affect the availability of water for firefighting. Hydrants ran dry in Pacific Palisades such as burned homes, which the DPW pinned on high demand as well as loss of water pressure. The agency said pumping stations were working and water supplies remained strong in the area, although California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would investigate. one the lawsuit has already been filed alleging that LA DPW failed to properly manage water supplies.
Meanwhile, the The DPW continues to deploy water tankers to help firefighters, LA Mayor Karen Bass said at a news conference Monday.
what comes next
Construction companies are ready for recovery and reconstruction efforts.
AECOM supports FEMAPublic Assistance grant program, which focuses on repairing and replacing damaged public infrastructure after catastrophic disasters. Jacobs also took $570.5 million over five years FEMA Contract for Risk Mitigation support and rebuild infrastructure in several areas, including California. Both contracts preceded the fires.
Pasadena, Calif.-based civil engineering firm TetraTech has also historically provided emergency and disaster recovery services across the country, Milwaukee, Wis.-based financial services firm Baird noted in a informative session
Power grid contractors will also be in high demand, according to Baird.
“Most of this work is done under existing main service agreements with major utilities, in which crews are dispatched from across the country to assist with power restoration services after major storms and other natural disasters,” Baird said.
