The drinking water of hundreds of families that were evacuated by the Eaton Fire in Pasadena may be so poisonous that boiling won’t make it safe.
Residents in the fire evacuation zone were advised by Pasadena Water and Power not to drink the tap water until further notice.
“It is devastating, man,” Alex Beanuelos, a 25-year Pasadena resident, said. “I’ve lived in this area my whole life.”
Beanuelos claimed that although he had previously witnessed flames in the area, he has never saw one spread into his neighborhood as the Eaton Fire has.
“We are spraying the house down to keep the embers from causing any fires to our property,” Beanuelos stated.
His family is lucky to still have a house to defend, but many of the others in his immediate vicinity will have a far more challenging journey ahead of them. The fire destroyed numerous homes, businesses, and educational institutions.
The Pasadena Water and Power department issued a “unsafe water” notice due to the damage, indicating that boiling and filters alone may not be sufficient to shield people from the chemicals in the water.
“We actually saw it on social media, that the water wasn’t safe right now,” Beanuelos stated.
“The pipes turn into open sources when they melt. Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the drinking water division, stated, “Gases from the burning fire can be drawn into the pipes and those gases contain a lot of toxic chemicals that none of us want to breathe and they can contaminate those pipes.”
CBS News and Stations reporter Dillon Thomas questioned, “When does a system become so weak that the toxins can’t even be boiled out?”
“Boiling out is only generally used when we believe pathogens that could have got in,” added Polhemus. “Boiling doesn’t help with heavy metals and some of the volatile organics.”
Many residents in the evacuation zone were swarming local businesses to buy bottled water in anticipation of the dangerous water proclamation.
“They don’t want you to even brush your teeth right now because (the tap water) is all contaminated,” local resident Sheri Elliot stated.
According to Elliot and her husband Frankii, the corporation set a quota that permitted them to buy three cases of water from the neighborhood grocery store.
Since we are unsure, we are attempting to obtain as much as they will permit. We don’t know when we’ll be able to use the water at all since it’s that nasty,” Elliott added.
During this period, Frankii Elliott claimed he was making an effort to stay upbeat and see how his other community members were doing.
According to Beanuelos, he was also making an effort to give his water bottles with first responders at this period.
Before restoring regular service to their residents, the affected water districts with dangerous water decelerations would need to flush their systems multiple times.
Additionally, there’s a good likelihood that the water won’t be drinkable even after the flushing is finished. Rather, it will be accessible for toilets, washing machines, and other non-consumed water uses.
It can take a few days or even weeks before the water is fit for human consumption.