LA Fire Hydrants Running Dry Adds to Challenges in Taming Blazes

Firefighters have had to contend with hurricane-force gusts, grounded aircraft and rushed evacuations in their quest to control devastating blazes across Los Angeles. But one surprising factor worsened their plight: Hydrants ran dry.

As the Palisades and Eaton fires spread on Tuesday night, multiple crews reported losing that crucial firefighting tool. The issue wasn’t California’s water management, as some including President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk have suggested, but rather systems that simply aren’t designed to handle fires of such ferocity burning in or near urban areas.

“Learning how to fight those fires is a big learning process,” said Faith ...