User:Noblegases

Sayre Fire November 15, 2008
The Sayre fire in the City of Los Angeles is a threat to all power and water transmisson to the County of Los Angeles. The Sayer Fire named after the street the call to Los Angeles City Fire Department was received is in a part of the city known as Sylmar. Sylmar was a rural part of the city until recent real estate and population. During the 1960's in Los Angeles the entire Los Angeles County had 1.2 million residents now it has 12 million residents.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which supplies electricity to the City of Los Angeles via the Sylmar Converter Station--Pacific Intertie. It is located on the northeast portion of the Van Norman Reservoir complex is the Los Angeles terminal for the 846 mile, 800,000 volt Pacific Intertie direct current transmission system. The world's longest distance, highest voltage transmission line delivers 1,440,000 kilowats of hydroelectric energy from the Pacific Northwest. Function of Sylmar Station is to change the direct current used for transmission of electric energy into the alternating current used locally. The DWP built and operates Sylmar Station as well as 545 miles of transmission line for itself and its partners, including Southern California Edison Company and the cities of Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank.

LADWP also operates the Los Angeles Reservoir. This 10,000 acre foot* reservoir is the terminal reservoir for the Aqueduct System. Its storage allows large changes in the supply to the distribution system while aqueduct inflow remains relatively constant. The LA Reservoir replaces the Van Norman Reservoirs which were damaged during the February 9, 1971, earthquake. Several major water pipelines radiating from this facility carry water across the San Fernando Valley into other areas of the city.

Sylmar serves as the nexus for all water and electricl power into the City of Los Angeles and portions of the County of Los Angeles. Massive dystruction of the LADWP facilities in Sylmar can immobilize a region of over 12 million people. Recently there have been a number of fires related to poorly maintained powerlines. There has been controversey regarding LADWP labor policies in employing Mexican (From Mexico) Labor Unions and utilizing dated third world technology in their delivery system. The Brotherhood of Electrical workers has publically commented that the system is in danger of failure and that existimg telephone poles were held stationary by line tension and not cemented into the ground. Recently, utilizing dated third world technology, LADWP has been transmitting higher voltage levels over local neighborhood lines. Some poles contain up to thirty transmission lines. LADWP has failed to bury lines, which would protect residents from EMF exposure, provide earthquake and sunami safety and preserve the valuable Los Angeles scenery portrayed internationally in Television and Motion Picture Industry.