Survivors of the California wildfires sued the Los Angeles Department of Water and Fire, alleging that it was to blame for the loss of water pressure in local hydrants and the unavailability of water from a major local reservoir. 

The complaint was filed this week in the Los Angeles Superior Court by a group of plaintiffs who claimed that “the water supply system servicing Pacific Palisades failed miserably, leaving residents and firefighters with little to no water to fight the blaze.” 

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The lawsuit centered around the Santa Ynez Reservoir, the 117-million-gallon water storage complex that is part of the Los Angeles water supply, which was out of commission for repairs when the fires erupted. 

Plaintiffs, more than a dozen California residents who all lost their homes during the Palisades fire, claimed the mammoth water storage unit had been empty for nearly a year because the LADWP had delayed repairs on the reservoir to cut costs. They argued that had the public utility department swiftly fixed the reservoir, local hydrants wouldn’t have run dry less than 24 hours after the crisis began. 

The fires first broke out on Tuesday, Jan. 7. At a news conference the following day, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO Janisse Quinones said that by 3 a.m. Wednesday morning, the city utility’s three main 1-million-gallon water storage tanks in the Palisades area “went dry” due to heightened demand.

“Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure,” Quiñones said. “It was like a worst-case scenario, but I think we should be planning for those worst-case scenarios.”

Roger Behle, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, pointed the finger at the LADWP to explain why the city didn’t have a backup water supply to refill the three water tanks. 

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“LADWP made the conscious decision not to timely repair the Santa Ynez Reservoir cover, leaving the reservoir drained and unusable, all as a cost-saving measure,” Behle said. “As a result, residents in one of the most affluent and highest-taxed areas in the nation were denied one of the most basic things a government should provide: water.”

The complaint stated: “Had the LADWP acted responsibly, the damage caused by the Palisades Fire could have been greatly reduced.”

The LADWP has argued that hydrants dried up due to “unprecedented and extreme water demand to fight the wildfire without aerial support.” 

“This impacted our ability to refill the three water tanks supplying the Palisades causing the loss of suction pressure. This impacted 20 percent of the hydrants in the area, mostly in the higher elevation,” the department said.

The utility department also said the reason the Santa Ynez Reservoir remained out of commission at the time of the fire was because of the city’s extensive “competitive bidding process” to make repairs. 

LADWP “was required to take the Santa Ynez Reservoir out of service to meet safe drinking water regulations. To commission the support and resources to implement repairs to Santa Ynez, LADWP is subject to the city charter’s competitive bidding process which requires time,” the utility department said last week. 

​​”The water system serving the Pacific Palisades area and all of Los Angeles meets all federal and state fire codes for urban development and housing. LADWP built the Pacific Palisades water system beyond the requirements to support the community’s typical needs.” the statement continued. 

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A former LADWP official told ABC News last week that even with access to the massive Santa Ynez Reservoir, the fires likely still would have spread.

“It could have made some difference in supporting the pressure loss early on, but it would not have lasted the whole fire,” Martin Adams said. 

Plaintiffs argued the point.

“Some say 110 million gallons in the Santa Ynez Reservoir wouldn’t have saved everything, but if it saved even one house or reduced damage to 10 houses, that water should have been there,” Behle told the Daily Journal. 

The Los Angeles fires were the most destructive in the city’s history, killing 25 people and destroying at least 5,300 homes and businesses. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has promised an investigation into the water crisis, calling it “deeply troubling,” in a letter to the LADWP and Los Angeles County Public Works.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, plaintiffs sought damages for the costs, repair, and replacement of their damaged or destroyed property, cost for alternative living expenses, and loss of wages, earning capacity, or profits.

Their petition for financial reimbursement comes as Los Angeles is grappling with how to achieve an economic recovery after the wildfires cost billions in damages and deepened already ominous cracks in the state’s shaky insurance industry. 

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The 2024-25 budget for Los Angeles County is $49.2 billion. According to a report by Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, the fires will cost insurers as much as $30 billion. That number rose to $40 billion when accounting for non-insured damages.

AccuWeather offered an even higher figure, estimating damages could cost insurers $250 billion to $275 billion.