The Sweetwater Authority water district will consider a more thorough inspection of its fire hydrants and fire suppression infrastructure in the wake of the failures during the fire storms in Los Angeles. Too many times, firefighters attached hoses to hydrants but didn’t get any water pressure. “People don’t think about these fire hydrants very much,” said Steve Castaneda, a governing board member for the Sweetwater Authority. The water utility manages roughly 4,000 hydrants between Chula Vista, National City and surrounding communities. By comparison, the city of San Diego has 26,000. Castaneda thought about those hydrants while watching coverage of the L.A. wildfires. At one point, so many fire hydrants were being used, the system lost water pressure. “The catastrophe was just overwhelming,” sighed Castaneda. Sweetwater Authority regularly inspects its fire suppression infrastructure, as do all water utilities. However, Castaneda said their district will consider a more elaborate and thorough inspection. “Part of what we want to do is understand exactly what we have and evaluate it,” he explained. “Look at our entire system, understand what the vulnerabilities are, understand where we can do better. And that would include even when the power utility shuts off the power.” A city of San Diego spokesman said, “As more information becomes available, we will take lessons learned from these fires in Los Angeles to inform our preparations and emergency planning going forward.” Sweetwater Authority’s board is expected to discuss the issue at its Jan. 22 meeting.