Former NASCAR star Danica Patrick wondered why water was a problem for firefighters and first responders called to battle the wildfires raging in California this week.
Several wildfires broke out in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday and Wednesday, fueled by the strong winds that hit the area. The widespread flames immediately strained the city’s water system, according to FOX Weather.
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A firefighter works as the Palisades Fire burns a home on the hillside next to the Getty Villa Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Pacific Palisades, California. (AP Photo/Étienne Laurent)
Janisse Quiñones, CEO and chief engineer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), said Wednesday that crews are having difficulty maintaining water pressure on the system, which allows water from being pushed into fire hydrants used by firefighters.
“The strain that this fire put on the water system and the hydrants, they’re just not designed for that type of use at the same time for 15 hours straight,” said Sheila Kelliher Berkoh , Los Angeles County Fire Captain, to FOX Weather.
Patrick seemed disconcerted.
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Danica Patrick during the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 27, 2018. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
“California has 840 miles of coastline and 3,000 lakes and reservoirs. Why don’t they have enough water to put out all the fires?” she wrote about X.
“At some point I have to imagine it becomes difficult for hardcore Cali fans to accept the state of their state and the way it is run.”
She then wrote that it would be time for Gov. Gavin Newsom to resign, using only the term “Newscum,” as President-elect Donald Trump did in his attacks on the California leader.
On Wednesday evening, another fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills, near the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Los Angeles Fire Department Captain Sheila Kelliher described the scorched hills as “dramatic and apocalyptic” in an interview with PK Press Club.
A house burns in the Eaton Fire in Altadena, Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)
Kelliher said she saw winds “reach 70, 80, even 100 miles per hour,” further fanning the flames.
