Why was 117-million-gallon capacity reservoir not used during Palisades firefight?

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES () — Some are questioning why the Santa Ynez reservoir, located in the Palisades Highlands, was offline during the Palisades Fire firefight.

The reservoir has a capacity of holding 117 million gallons of water.

It was closed for repairs to its cover, so it could not be used to help battle the flames though it’s located right in the middle of the Palisades.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has directed an independent investigation into reports of loss of water pressure to fire hydrants and the unavailability of water supplies from the reservoir.

A former LADWP official told News that access to the reservoir may have helped early on in the firefight, but it would not have been enough to fight the fire.

“It could have made some difference in supporting the pressure loss early on, but it would not have lasted the whole fire,” Martin Adams, who recently retired after 40 years of working at LADWP, most recently as General Manager, told News.

“It might have helped for a little bit, but it wouldn’t have been the be-all end-all,” Adams said.

News contributed to this report.