Water experts dismissed Trump’s claims that California water policy is to blame for dry hydrants. But Los Angeles is also unprepared for the age of urban wildfires.

Though wildfires have always happened, warming global temperatures are making them more frequent and severe. For instance, scientists calculated last year that our overheating planet has contributed to a 172% increase in areas burned by wildfires in California since the 1970s.

Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran dry in recent days as demand soared for water to quell fast-moving wildfires.

THE CENTER SQUARE —Hundreds of fire hydrants were stolen from the ground for scrap metal in advance of the blazes raging across Los Angeles, highlighting the local government’s challenges in maintaining basic order and infrastructure.

We had tremendous demand on our systems in the Palisades,” Quiñones said. “We pushed the system to the extreme. Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight.”