As devastating wildfires raged across Los Angeles County this week, firefighters battling the blazes encountered fire hydrants that had no water. Why it matters: The dry fire hydrants sparked political outrage and illustrated just how unprepared municipal water systems are to combat the sorts of large-scale urban wildfires that have become more frequent with climate change.

How do you fight a fire with no water?” Ryan Babroff, a volunteer firefighter battling the Eaton Fire, told The Washington Post. At some point this week, up to 20 percent of the city’s hydrants went dry,

Public figures have questioned L.A.’s ‘dry’ fire hydrants, but experts say the hydrant system wasn’t designed for this intensity of fire. At 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the first of three municipal water tanks in Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood ran dry,

As unprecedented wildfires raged through Los Angeles, some firefighters suddenly lost access to water. City officials called one shortage a “worst-case scenario”—one they expect to see again in the future.

Los Angeles officials said a "tremendous" demand — four times normal levels — during the Palisades fire caused some hydrants to run dry.