Anger after fire evacuation alert sent in error to millions in LA

The evolving disaster has turned into a need to understand why this happened and how it escalated into the most destructive fire in the history of Los Angeles.

As one of the now five fires burning in Los Angeles County approached Larry Villescas’ home on Tuesday, he grabbed the only tool he could – a garden hose.

He and his neighbour made quick work of the embers falling on their homes from the Eaton Fire and igniting grass.

Then the hose ran dry.

He watched his neighbours’ home in Altadena ignite. Then there was a boom – a nearby home was ablaze and sounded as though it exploded. He had to leave.

As he drove away, he watched the fire take hold of his garage.

“If we had water pressure, we would have been able to fight it,” Mr Villescas said, standing in front of the charred remains of his home.

He remembered seeing firefighters that night – as the community burned – sitting in their trucks, unable to help.

“I remember my rage. It was like ‘do something,’ but they can’t – there’s no water pressure,” he said. “It’s just infuriating. How could this happen?”

Some experts have said the water shortage is due to unprecedented demand not mismanagement.

“The problem is that the scope of the disaster is so vast that there are thousands of firefighters and hundred of fire engines drawing upon water,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources, told the BBC.

“Ultimately only so much water can flow through pipes at a time.”