Communities in the U.S. state of California are coming together to tackle water shortages and protect each other's homes as they grapple with one of the state's worst-ever wildfire disasters.
Nick Pemberton, a resident of Altadena, Los Angeles County, was home alone after evacuating his wife and children. He is among only a few who stayed behind in the neighborhood when the flames reached his street.
"There were no firefighters here, there were just too many fires everywhere, they had not enough presence," he said.
Working at a construction firm, Pemberton was lucky to be able to get his hands on a water tank with a generator to put out the flames on his street. He and those staying behind did all they could to put out fires before entire houses burnt down, but in some cases they were too late.
When firefighters finally arrived, however, his earlier efforts helped them get the flames under control elsewhere in the neighborhood.
"We were at least able to stop it here and then when the fire trucks showed up on Mar Vista, one street over, they ran out of water because all the fire hydrants were down. The firefighters came over and asked us for water from our water trucks that we'd taken from the swimming pools," he said.
The Los Angeles Fire department acknowledges it does not have sufficient staffing to contain simultaneous fires of this magnitude, and it soon became clear that the city's water systems aren't equipped to deliver such large volumes of water over several hours.
"The reality is that we have urban water systems that are not designed to fight wildfires or put out entire mountainsides that are on fire. And we are having very high severity events that are unprecedented," said Edith de Guzman, Water Equity and Adaptation Specialist at University of California, Los Angeles.
According to Pemberton's account, locals acutely felt this clamping of resources, but were able to persist by embracing a neighborly spirit.
"Definitely, [challenges include] not having the fire hydrants still even turned on and not being able to hose down yards and rooftops and things like that. But thank God we were able to get the pumps in the hoses and start pumping out swimming pools. And it was amazing. Every neighbor with a swimming pool was running out and saying: use our water," he said.
Since the blazes erupted on Tuesday, more than 36,000 acres have been scorched, over 10,000 structures destroyed, and at least 11 lives lost.
On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered an investigation into the causes behind water supply problems that hindered firefighting efforts, describing the reports of water shortages as "deeply troubling."
Los Angeles neighbors come together to tackle water shortages, protect homes from wildfires
Los Angeles neighbors come together to tackle water shortages, protect homes from wildfires
Los Angeles neighbors come together to tackle water shortages, protect homes from wildfires
Los Angeles neighbors come together to tackle water shortages, protect homes from wildfires
