MORGAN CHESKY: We joined Los Angeles Fire Captain Adam Van Gerpen in the Pacific Palisades.
ADAM VAN GERPEN: This hydrant has no- no water in it.
CHESKY: Where lack of water, critical to battling a still-active wildfire, frustrated crews. This one from San Francisco.
What should the water pressure be right now, ideally?
FIREFIGHTER: I mean, you want 50 to 80 as your ideal hydrant pressure.
CHESKY: And what have you got?
FIREFIGHTER: I'm bouncing between zero, 50, it’s- it's not a consistent pressure.
CHESKY: As nearby hydrants failed and water pressure fell, firefighters above switching from offense to defense.
CHESKY: When you run out of water in that engine…
FIREFIGHTER: Not much we can do then. VIDEO SWIPE) We came out, this is our first job for the day.
CHESKY: Flames burning for precious minutes before any reinforcements could arrive.
FIREFIGHTER: Had we had water earlier on in the firefight, we probably could have stopped it from getting this big.
CHESKY: This is something we have not seen often but when the hydrants are dry, crews have to rely on these tanker trucks because the fire waits for no one.
