Report Details Los Angeles ‘Disaster Was Years in the Making’

A new report has detailed how 📍Los Angeles County officials ignored warnings of failing infrastructure water systems, which ultimately that led to one of the worst wildfires the area has ever seen.

According to the Los Angeles Times, L.A. County officials missed opportunities to upgrade water infrastructure, and experts are saying this could have helped fire fighters save more homes burned in the Pacific Palisades wildfires that left at least 11 people dead after hydrants ran dry within hours.

Thousands of pages of county records show the disaster could have been avoided if the necessary repairs and upgrades had been made, some of which had been earmarked as “high priority” since as early as 2013.

The L.A. Times reported government inaction, red tape, and budget shortfalls contributed to the work still not having broken ground when the fires ignited January 7, and the117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir was completely dry after it had been emptied for maintenance.

As the outlet writes:

“But thousands of pages of state, county and municipal records reviewed by The Times show the disaster was years in the making. Red tape, budget shortfalls and government inaction repeatedly stymied plans for water system improvements — including some that specifically cited the need to boost firefighting capacity.”

The cost to make the necessary upgrades was an estimated $57 million and construction was reported to have taken approximately seven years to complete. The estimated damage to