As devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County this week, firefighters battling the blazes encountered fire hydrants that had no water. Why it matters: The dry fire hydrants sparked political outrage and illustrated just how unprepared municipal water systems are to combat the sorts of large-scale urban wildfires that have become more frequent with climate change.

Other fires, like the 2023 Maui fires and the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Northern California, have caused hydrants to go dry in the past, and it seems L.A. will need to go back to the drawing board if these kinds of wildfire-scale urban blazes become the new normal.

When fire hydrants ran dry during the Pacific Palisades fire, it sparked a wave of anger and even misinformation. Here’s how L.A.’s water system works and what we know about why the hydrants ran out.

Gov. Gavin Newsom orders independent investigation into how the loss of water pressure left fire hydrants dry, hindering firefighting efforts in Los Angeles.

Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran dry in recent days as demand soared for water to quell fast-moving wildfires.

Though wildfires have always happened, warming global temperatures are making them more frequent and severe. For instance, scientists calculated last year that our overheating planet has contributed to a 172% increase in areas burned by wildfires in California since the 1970s.

Janisse Quiñones, CEO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said the fight to contain the flames has put immense strain on the system.

We had tremendous demand on our systems in the Palisades,” Quiñones said. “We pushed the system to the extreme. Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight.”