Wildfires can destroy water lines, leaving hydrants dry. How you can help firefighters

When a wildfire tears through a town, it can wreak havoc on critical water supplies. Broken pipes and destroyed homes can hemorrhage water, lowering pressure within the system. Fire hydrants slow to a useless trickle, if any water comes out at all.

It happened during the fires in Maui and in places like Santa Rosa in 2017, when the Tubbs Fire laid waste to entire neighborhoods.

The aftermath of a firestorm that began in Napa Valley's Calistoga, destroying thousands of homes in the Coffey Park, Fountaingrove, Larkfield, and Mark West Estates neighborhoods, is viewed from this aerial photo taken over Coffey Park on Nov. 5, 2017.

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“We lost 3,000 homes in Fountain Grove and Coffey Park, and every house was just bleeding water. There's no water system that can maintain that,” said Tony Gossner, former fire chief for the city of Santa Rosa.

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I spoke with him last year about the hell that was the Tubbs Fire for my podcast The Big Burn.

You can help firefighters by providing backup water for them — but it can be expensive, it requires a whole lot of space and plenty of advance planning.

Water tanks and pools

Swimming pools and giant water tanks can be hugely helpful.

Cattle graze near a water tank at a ranch on June 08, 2021 in Tomales, California.

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In the case of a tank, make sure that it’s at least 2,500 gallons, and that it has a hookup for firefighting hoses. Different departments use different fittings, so call your local firehouse to find out which one will work with their equipment. According to L.A. County Fire, they use the national standard thread.

Firefighters can draw water from both tanks and swimming pools to fill up their trucks or directly fight fire, so if you have either, make sure that they're easily accessible in the case of an emergency. One way to do that is to leave your garage door open or your back gate unlocked as a fire approaches.

“If you have a pool, it's great to put a marker on your curb right next to your address with a picture of a pool or ‘pool in rear,’” said Derek Bart, a retired L.A. County Fire captain who we spoke with for the advice episode of The Big Burn, where we tell you how to prepare for fire. “It gives us an opportunity when we roll into an area and say, ‘Oh, we got a pool here. We can draft out this pool,’ you know?”

During the Northridge Earthquake, when a gas line exploded and several houses caught on fire, the nearby hydrants lost pressure. Firefighters had to pull water from a nearby pool to save homes.

At night, a gas main on fire throws flames into the air after it broke and exploded destroying nearby homes following the Northridge earthquake, on Jan. 17, 1994.

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Make sure that the pool is free from debris like toys, which can get stuck in hose lines.

You can purchase powerful gas powered pumps to draw on your own water supplies as well.

“The power of these pumps is pretty remarkable,” said Garrett Clancy, chief of the Bell Canyon volunteer wildland fire department.

During the Woolsey Fire in 2018, hydrants in the Bell Canyon area lost pressure, he says. Since then, he's been encouraging people within the community to pick up their own pumps for use in case they find themselves in that situation again.

Employees of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe train lines pump water from an inflatable tank during the Dixie fire in Quincy, California on July 26, 2021.

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“It gives us an extra layer of confidence knowing that if we do run into some sort of water pressure issue we have a secondary plan we can go to immediately,” Clancy said.

In the event of a bad wildfire, there’s a good chance that the power could go out as well, so make sure you have backup power for whatever pump you’re running.

Most importantly, if evacuation orders are issued, leave immediately.

Sprinkler systems

Another home defense option that people sometimes turn to are sprinkler systems installed on the outside of their homes, meant to wet everything down and keep things from burning.

“There is a lot of debate about the super expensive fire defense systems that are like a fire sprinkler system for the exterior of the house,” said Sheila Kelliher, a spokesperson for L.A. County Fire. “But in wind-driven fires with massive amounts of embers, they fall short of what they claim to do.”

If they’re connected to the municipal water supply, they can also lower pressure elsewhere within the system. If you’re going to install them on your home, it might be best if they’re drawing from alternative sources of water.

“These systems are not necessarily cheap or necessarily easy to maintain,” said retired Cal Fire chief David Shew, who now runs the consulting company Wildfire Defense Works.

“People put systems like this in and then they don’t maintain them as well as they should,” Shew said. “So when the fire hits, we’ll often find that the valve that turns the water on from the tank is basically frozen shut and we can’t turn it.”

Remember your best option

The Big Burn: How To Survive the Age of Wildfires

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Just because you have additional sources of water at your home, there’s no guarantee that firefighters will use them. Or that your house will fare better than any others.

“The likelihood is pretty high that your property and home is going to be on its own,” said Shew.

Your money is best spent clearing brush, creating defensible space and hardening your structures.

Fire resources and tips

If you have to evacuate

• Cheat sheet: Your very short guide to getting packed up right now to evacuate
• Cheat sheet: A very short guide for how to leave your house if you need to evacuate

If you have more time:

• Every day is now fire season. Let's get you ready for the next wildfire burning near you

Things to consider

• Evacuation terms can be confusing. Here’s what they mean and how to sign up for alerts
• This is why fire officials don't want you to stay and defend your home

Navigating fire conditions

• Cheat sheet: Your very short guide to driving in high winds and fire danger
• High winds and fires mean power outages. Here's how to prep

How to help yourself and others

• Resources for SoCal fire victims, evacuees and first responders
• What to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire
• If you want to help fire victims, resist the urge to volunteer

Understanding how it got this bad

• Yes, wildfires are getting worse. The history that got us to this moment