As firefighters battled catastrophic fires in Los Angeles last January, one question reverberated across the country: Where was the water? … A team of researchers, led by Gregory Pierce, director of the UCLA Water Resources Group, set out to uncover whether the intense focus on water supply meant that dry hydrants had uniquely hampered the Palisades firefight, or whether this was a common occurrence. In a policy brief published Monday, the researchers used media reports to confirm that when fires burn urban areas, hydrant flows often sputter out — the result of lost pressure as burnt homes hemorrhage water and too many hoses simultaneously draw on a limited supply.

Other fire and water news:

• YubaNet (Grass Valley, Calif.): NID receives $615,000 CAL FIRE grant to protect critical water infrastructure from wildfire
• The Sacramento Bee (Calif.): Opinion​: California must extend BioMAT to fight wildfires and protect jobs