A Los Angeles councilwoman whose district was devastated by wildfires is looking to hold leaders accountable for empty tanks

The Los Angeles councilman, whose district was devastated Recent historic wildfiresis demanding accountability from city and state officials after empty tanks hampered firefighting efforts, raising questions about how prepared the city is to host world-class events in the next few years.

“This fire was unlike anything we’ve seen before, but there’s no secret that we’ve been chronically underinvested in critical infrastructure and public safety in Los Angeles,” Councilwoman Tracy Park told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday.

“And I think there are a lot of questions about what could have been done or what could have been done differently, and what it would take In Los Angeles “To make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

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after Devastating forest fires That began in the mountains of Los Angeles last week, concerns have emerged about malfunctioning fire hydrants and major multi-million dollar cuts to the Fire Department budget.

Gov. Gavin Newsom responded Friday by calling for an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to investigate water supply issues during the emergency.

“Continuing reports of loss of water pressure for some local fire hydrants during fires and reported unavailability of water supply from the Santa Ynez Reservoir are of deep concern to me and the community,” Newsom wrote to LADWP CEO and Chief Engineer. Janis Quinones and Los Angeles County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella in a letter.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers Defend the leadership of the state.

“Obviously I have a lot of concerns about water,” said Park, whose district includes Pacific Palisades, an area that was one of the first and hardest hit by the wildfires.

“I was personally in the command center at Will Rogers when the fire volcano came over our mountain, through our city, all the way to the Pacific Coast Highway, and all the way into the night, I was hearing anecdotally about the failure of our firefighters,” she said. “Enough water.” And I think we all have questions about the forecast. How are our firefighters supposed to fight fires Without the thing they need to do this, which is water?”

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Park, who was collecting critical aid in her Westchester borough office to distribute to her constituents, said she was also concerned about disaster preparedness, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games.

“I was concerned about our level of preparedness for those events before this happened,” Park said regarding the wildfires. “And I certainly think over the last few days we’ve seen some of those gaps become quite apparent.”

While Park expressed gratitude to Newsom and his “statewide support,” as well as county partners and Cal Fire, “the reality is that we host millions of people in our city, our resources are already spread too thin and we obviously have a lot of work to do to do a lot of strategic planning to continue our preparations.” For those big events coming up.”

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In the months leading up to the wildfires, Los Angeles city officials cut the fire department’s budget by just under $18 million, according to the department.

At the state level, experts and lawmakers are pointing the finger at top leaders’ handling of the state’s forest department and at a lesser-known problem: the state’s outdated water reserve system. Reservoirs located in California They can only hold so much water, and many were built in the mid-20th century.

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In 2024, the state saw record rainfall after an atmospheric river event, but existing water infrastructure struggled to manage the sudden influx of water. Much of that rain was dumped into the ocean.

In 2014, California voters succeeded Proposition 1also known as the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which authorized $2.7 billion in bonds to increase the state’s water storage capacity by building new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. However, no new tanks have been completed under the first proposal, according to local reports.