LA water chief 'was aware of broken hydrants' months before fires

Massive Water Reservoir in Los Angeles Closed for Nearly An Entire Year Ahead of Wildfire
Los Angeles Times: A large reservoir in Pacific Palisades that is part of the Los Angeles water supply system was out of commission when a ferocious wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and other structures nearby. Officials said that the Santa Ynez Reservoir had been closed since about February for repairs to its cover, leaving a 117-million-gallon water storage complex empty in the heart of the Palisades for nearly a year. The revelation comes amid growing questions about why firefighters ran out of water while battling the blaze, which ignited Tuesday during catastrophically high winds. The $750,000-a-year LA water czar is responsible for a raft of failures that contributed to the devastating Palisades Fire. On Mayor Karen Bass’s orders, the city maxed out its budget to ‘attract private-sector talent’, hiring Department of Water and Power (LADWP) CEO Janisse Quiñones on a $750,000 salary in May – almost double that of her predecessor. Now, Quiñones is being blamed by LA Fire Department (LAFD) insiders for leaving a nearby reservoir disconnected and fire hydrants broken for months, leading to firefighters running out of water as they battled the devastating Palisades Fire this week.