With multiple wildfires burning in Southern California, including the Palisades Fire in Los AngelesAuthorities have taken the rare step of collecting ocean water to help fight the fire.
Salt water can damage equipment, infrastructure and wildlife — but sometimes firefighters need to use it anyway, according to Frank Papalia, a former captain with the New York City Fire Department and a fire safety expert at Global Security Group.
“When someone falls, gets injured, or maybe breaks their neck or something like that, don't move them. (But) if there's a fire around them, or there's chemicals around them and things like that, they're going to die,” he told Fox News Digital. “So you have to move them, you have no other choice.”
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A house burns as residents try to escape the site in Pacific Palisades, California, on Tuesday. (Tayfun Coskun/Anatolia via Getty Images)
He added that the main way to use salt water to fight fires is to withdraw it from the ocean by plane or helicopter and drop it from above.
This has already been done Southern CaliforniaA video clip showed large forest fires getting out of control. But one of the planes has already been taken out of service after someone flew a drone into its wing. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating, and a spokesperson told Fox News Digital that interfering with firefighters is a federal crime punishable by up to a year in prison and a $75,000 fine.
Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns several buildings in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
While salt water can damage infrastructure, kill wildlife and have other consequences, it's sometimes a necessary trade-off, Papalia said.
“In this case, your city is burning to the ground, so using salt water is not that bad,” he told Fox News Digital. “The problem is they're limited to how many planes they can fly at one time, how far they have to fly, and how much water those planes can carry. You couldn't fly yesterday because of the wind.”
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A Super Scooper plane drops water on the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on Tuesday. (Brian Van Der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Current fire hydrants do not use salt water for several reasons. They use the same pipes that supply fresh tap water to homes and businesses. They are not resistant to corrosion. The cost of installing a new saltwater tap system connected to ocean pumps “would be ridiculous,” Papalia said.
Fire hydrants also depend on the pressure that is lost with each hydrant open at the same time.
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But the fire trucks themselves can use salt water, it only has to be close enough to get it and require a thorough cleaning afterwards.
“We have it at JFK,” Papalia said of New York City's airport. “We're pumping water from Jamaica Bay. If you're going to do it on the beach, how are you going to put the fire truck in the sand?”
The Eaton Fire burns a car in Altadena, California, on Wednesday. (Ethan Swope/AP)
At least 10 people died In fires Across Southern California, according to authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Robert Luna said he expected the death toll to rise. More than 130,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes.
ca Gov. Gavin Newsom The state has sent more than 7,500 firefighters and support personnel to assist Los Angeles as the fires continue to burn, the office said.
A firefighter battles flames at the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Wednesday. (Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Neighboring states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and New Mexico, also sent firefighting equipment.
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“There is no doubt that this will be one of the worst fires in the history of the world,” Papalia said.
