YORBA LINDA : Firefighting Water Plentiful, City Is Told

This city has much more water available to fight a cataclysmic fire than Laguna Beach had during its massive fire last month, water officials have assured the City Council.

Bill Robertson, general manager of the Yorba Linda Water District, said the district’s reservoirs can hold nearly 38 million gallons of water, compared to Laguna Beach’s current capacity of 26 million gallons.

The actual volume of water fluctuates throughout the day, Robertson said, but the water district’s policy is to maintain the 11 reservoirs at 80% of capacity, or about 30 million gallons.

Put in perspective, the reservoirs hold enough water to supply between 40 and 80 firefighting teams for 25 hours.

Robertson also told the council this week that most of the reservoirs are served by underground utilities, which reduces the likelihood that power to pump water out of the reservoir would be knocked out during a fire.

But he stopped short of assuring the council that the difficulties firefighters faced in Laguna Beach, where 366 homes burned, would not be duplicated here.

“There is no telling how the (water) system would perform” during a firestorm, Robertson said.

One variable is how many structures are destroyed in the blaze. A single house could lose 50 gallons of water per minute from exposed water pipes.

The number of homeowners hosing down roofs and landscaping in an effort to prevent flying embers from igniting another fire can also reduce the flow of water, he pointed out.

The council asked for the report two weeks ago after the wildfires in Southern California.

But, while the council was particularly concerned with the district’s water capacity and pumping ability, in an interview, Robertson said the more crucial lesson learned from the Laguna Beach blaze is the importance of establishing and maintaining communication between the water district and the Fire Department.