The speed and intensity of the blazes ravaging Los Angeles this week have put its firefighting infrastructure to the test — and given rise to questions and criticism surrounding preparedness.Hydrants ran dry in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood as it was ravaged by one of the region’s five separate fires, while water shortages additionally hampered efforts elsewhere.”We need answers to how that happened,” California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote in a letter to the heads of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and the Los Angeles County Public Works.Calling the lack of water and water pressure “deeply troubling,” Newsom directed state officials to prepare an independent report on the causes.Chris Sheach, assistant professor of disaster management at Paul Smith’s College in New York state, told AFP part of the problem is that the city’s fire-fighting infrastructure wasn’t designed for enormous multi-acre conflagrations.”Their system is built to fight individual house fires,” he said, or for “responding to commercial or residential structure fires.”The amount of water used for one building compared to the amount needed to squelch a fire burning across thousands of acres is quite different, he added.- Resources needed -Early firefighting efforts created four times the normal demand for water over approximately 15 hours, Janisse Quinones, CEO and chief engineer at the city’s water department, told the New York Times.Apart from that, Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley has said her city is hampered by a lack of resources.”I have, over the past three years, been clear that the fire department needs help. We can no longer sustain where we are,” she told CNN Friday, explaining the necessity for more staff, resources and funding.She said this included the need for 62 new fire stations amid a 55 percent increase in call volume since 2010.US President-elect Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in just over a week, has seized upon the drama to attack Democrats, launching a series of evidence-free broadsides accusing Governor Newsom of a variety of failings.He has even tried to blame a lack of water on environmentalists’ efforts to protect the smelt — a small fish that lives hundreds of miles away from the fires. – ‘Risk-reward decision’ -“The fact that we have such a low number of fatalities despite the massive property losses is a testament to the work of fire chiefs and government officials who have been timely,” Sheach, the professor, said.The fires have so far destroyed around 10,000 buildings, California’s fire agency reported, while the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office has put the death toll at 11.California firefighters “are some of the best firefighters in the world. They do this so often,” Sheach said, adding that they were better trained than in most other localities because “it’s their reality.”How can a city like Los Angeles be better prepared in the future? And would it mean hiring more firefighters or increasing water supply?”Those are decisions that politicians have to work with with their community, because what’s right for each community is going to be up to how much they’re willing to pay,” Sheach said.Decreasing risk means spending more money, he explained, calling the situation a giant “risk-reward decision.”

Los Angeles Lakers coach J.J. Redick says he hopes the team’s eventual return to play can “give people hope” after seeing his Pacific Palisades home incinerated in the deadly wildfires that have ravaged the city.The Lakers postponed a scheduled home game against Charlotte on Thursday because of the fires, which have left at least 11 people dead and destroyed around 10,000 homes and other buildings.Redick oversaw practice on Friday for what was expected to be an emotionally charged home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, but that game too was postponed in a decision announced by NBA league chiefs.The Los Angeles Clippers’ game against Charlotte set for Saturday was also postponed.Redick is one of several members of the Lakers organization directly impacted by the fires, seeing his family’s rented property in Pacific Palisades, the ground zero of the disaster, consumed by the flames.On Friday, Redick became emotional as he spoke to reporters about the personal impact of the disaster on his family.”I’m not sure I’ve wept or wailed like that in several years,” said Redick, who was living in the house with his wife, Chelsea, and their two sons.”It was not prepared for what I saw,” Redick said of visiting Pacific Palisades after returning home from the Lakers’ road game at Dallas in the early hours of Wednesday morning.By that stage, Redick’s family had been evacuated to a hotel. The Lakers coach then paid a visit to his home early Wednesday to assess the situation.”It was complete devastation and destruction. I went a different way to the house through the village, and it’s all gone,” Redick said. “I don’t think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that.”We moved out here, and the Palisades community has really been so good to us. That’s the part to us that we’re really struggling with. I recognize that people make up community and we’re going to rebuild and we’re going to lead on that.- ‘Irreplaceable’ items lost -“We talked about it as a group before practice today. And it’s our responsibility and everybody in this building to lead on this and help people.”Redick said his family had lost “irreplaceable” items in the destruction.”Everything that we owned that was of any importance to us in almost 20 years together as a couple and 10 years of parenting was in that house,” he said. “There’s certain things that you can’t replace, that will never be replaced,” he added, citing a charcoal picture of a lighthouse his son had drawn for an art project which had been framed and hung on a wall.Other sports figures were also among those grappling with the devastation.Five-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Gary Hall Jr. said he evacuated his Pacific Palisades house taking only his dog, the insulin he uses to treat his diabetes, a painting of his grandfather, and a religious artifact.He was unable to return to the house to get his five gold, three silver and two bronze medals he won over the course of three Olympic Games in 1996, 2000 and 2004.”I was getting pelted by embers on that first run,” Hall said. “So I grabbed my dog and some dog food, and that was it,” he told the Los Angeles Times.Hall, who found refuge with family in San Diego, told the Times he was preparing for “a complete rebuild” of his life.Meanwhile, the NFL said Friday that the league and four of its teams are donating $5 million to support Los Angeles communities impacted by the fires.The NFL said in a statement on Friday that its two Los Angeles teams, the Rams and Chargers, and their opponents in the wild-card playoff round, the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans, had pledged $1 million each, which would be matched by the NFL Foundation, the league’s philanthropic arm.

Eleven people dead, 10,000 buildings destroyed, 180,000 people evacuated, $150 billion in damage.Here are the main figures showing the scale of the massive wildfires that have engulfed Los Angeles County since Tuesday.- Five blazes ongoing -Los Angeles is being ravaged by five different big blazes.The largest, the Palisades Fire northwest of the nation’s second most populous city, has consumed 86 square kilometers (33 square miles).It has ravaged the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, home to multimillionaires and celebrities.The second, at 56 square kilometers (22 square miles), is the Eaton Fire in Altadena, an eastern suburb of Los Angeles. The fires are eight percent and three percent contained, respectively.Three much smaller blazes, the Kenneth Fire (four sq km), Hurst Fire (three sq km) and Lidia Fire (1.6 sq km), have been partly contained — by 50 percent, 70 percent and 98 percent, respectively.- 150 square kilometers -The fires have ripped through more than 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares or 150 square kilometers.)Compared to other fires that have hit California in recent years and spread sometimes over several thousand square kilometers, the current blazes are smaller in size.However, they are particularly deadly and destructive because they are located in residential areas.- 11 dead -To date, at least 11 people are known to have died, the Los Angeles County coroner said Thursday.At least two died in the Palisades Fire and at least five in the Eaton Fire, according to firefighters.If one of the blazes ends up killing six people, it would become one of the 20 deadliest in California history, according to official data.- 10,000 buildings destroyed -At least 10,000 houses and other structures have already gone up in smoke, including at least 5,000 in the Palisades Fire and between 4,000 and 5,000 in the Eaton Fire, according to Los Angeles County firefighters.The two fires are already the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles County.By comparison, the Camp Fire ravaged nearly 19,000 buildings north of Sacramento in November 2018, and the Tubbs Fire destroyed 5,600 north of San Francisco in October 2017.- 180,000 people evacuated -Around 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their neighborhoods. Authorities have been pleading with residents to heed the evacuation orders, as some residents stayed behind trying to save their properties.The legendary neighborhood of Hollywood, threatened at one point by the Sunset Fire, was also evacuated, but the order was lifted Thursday morning after the fire in its hills was brought under control.- 20 arrests -The neighborhoods hit by the fires face another danger: looting. Police have arrested at least 20 people for theft in the Los Angeles area since the first fires broke out Tuesday.A nighttime curfew has been announced and the National Guard has been deployed to patrol affected areas.- $150 billion in damage -With the destruction of luxury residences, the fires could end up being the costliest on record. Private meteorological firm AccuWeather has estimated the damage at between $135 and $150 billion. And that could go up.

Winds calmed Friday around Los Angeles, providing a fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling five major blazes, as official recriminations began over responsibility for the disaster.At least 11 people have died as flames ripped through neighborhoods and razed thousands of homes this week in a disaster that US President Joe Biden likened to a “war scene.”As the scale of the damage to America’s second-biggest city came into focus — one new estimate suggested the bill could hit $150 billion — Angelenos grappled with the heart-rending ruin.”I lost everything. My house burned down and I lost everything,” Hester Callul, who reached a shelter after fleeing her Altadena home, told AFP.With fears of looting and crime growing, California Governor Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to bolster law enforcement.A nighttime curfew has been imposed in evacuated areas, and dozens of arrests made.”This curfew will be strictly enforced,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. “We are not screwing around with this.”The five separate fires have so far burned more than 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), California’s fire agency reported.”It reminded me of more of a war scene, where you had certain targets that were bombarded,” said Biden, as he received a briefing on the fires at the White House. – ‘Devastating’ -A lull in winds enabled much-needed progress in tackling the fires Friday.The biggest of the blazes has burned down more than 20,000 acres of the upscale Pacific Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods, where firefighters said they were starting to get the fire under control.By Friday eight percent of its perimeter was contained — meaning it can’t spread any further in that direction.”Braveheart” actor Mel Gibson was the latest celebrity to reveal his Malibu home had burned down, telling NewsNation the loss was “devastating.”The Eaton fire in the Altadena area was three percent checked, with almost 14,000 acres scorched and key infrastructure — including communication towers — threatened.Fire chief Jason Schillinger said Friday that “significant progress” had been made in quelling the blaze.A third fire that exploded Thursday afternoon near Calabasas and the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, was 35 percent surrounded.But emergency chiefs warned the situation is “still very dangerous” and the reprieve from intense gusts that spread embers will not last.”The winds have died down today, but… are going to increase again in the coming days,” said Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.- ‘Need answers’ -The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed an additional fatality on Friday, bringing the overall death toll so far to 11.Authorities have said it was too early to know the cause of the blazes, but criticism has mounted of officials’ preparedness and response.Newsom ordered on Friday a “full independent review” of the city’s water utilities, describing the lack of water supplies and loss of pressure at hydrants during the initial fires as “deeply troubling.””We need answers to how that happened,” he wrote in an open letter.Los Angeles fire chief Kristin Crowley blamed funding cuts to her department, telling Fox News affiliate KTTV: “We are still understaffed, we’re still under-resourced, and we’re still underfunded.”Meanwhile, emergency managers apologized Friday after false evacuation alerts were erroneously sent to millions of mobile phones, sparking panic.”I can’t express enough how sorry I am,” said Kevin McGowan, the director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management.And aviation authorities were investigating who had piloted an illegal drone that struck a water-dropping aircraft, punching a fist-sized hole in the plane and taking it out of action.- Misinformation -Biden also took a veiled swipe at incoming president Donald Trump, who has spread misinformation over the flames that has then been amplified on social media.”You’re going to have a lot of demagogues out there trying to take advantage of it,” Biden said of the fires.Wildfires occur naturally, but scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather and changing the dynamics of the blazes.Two wet years in southern California have given way to a very dry one, leaving ample fuel on the ground primed to burn.The fires could be the costliest ever recorded, with AccuWeather estimating total damage and loss between $135 billion and $150 billion.