Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2026

Department

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering

Abstract

Wildfires are increasing in frequency and severity. They are reaching major cities, such as Los Angeles, CA and causing billions of dollars in destruction, pollution, and loss of lives. This study investigates using the existing water distribution system (WDS) to fight, not only single-structure fires, but warding off a wildfire approaching the entire city. A strategy entitled the “Immediate Access Strategy” or IAS is introduced in which sufficient water to simultaneously open all hydrants for a specified time at the wildfire front is maintained in the storage tank(s) and large pipes go from the tank(s) to the hydrants on the wildfire front. Numerous simulations of the network solver EPANET, which calculates the flow and pressures throughout the system at all times, were performed for analysis. Different protection levels were defined to give options as the robustness of the wildfire fighting effort. Scenarios were outlined for various flowrates at the hydrants, depending on the firefighting needs. It is envisioned that the structures be pre-wetted prior to the fire, which would require less water than extinguishing the fire. Costs to upgrade the system normalized by the current value of the WDS assets were calculated. It was found that protecting the entire city at a high flowrate level would cost up to seven times the value of the current system assets, but to pre-wet the structures on the fire front could cost as little as 1.2 times the current value. The system could be improved incrementally, as funds became available. Technical details were explored here, but policy and planning practicalities are also important.

Publisher's Statement

© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Publisher’s version of record: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2026.106507

Publication Title

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.