Camarillo residents told to avoid using water during Mountain Fire
KCAL, KCBS
By Dillon Thomas
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California (KCAL/KCBS) — Camarillo regulators told residents to avoid using their water for the next few days after the Mountain Fire possibly sent toxins into the supply.
“These systems are built for daily residential use,” Ian Pritchard, general manager for Calleguas Municipal Water District, said.
The water systems built in most communities simply weren’t designed to handle the amount of demand firefighters need to extinguish the flames spreading across the Ventura County landscape.
“They’re really sized to fight fires in the largest structure in the area. They are not built to fight wildfires,” said Pritchard. “Hundreds of fire engines hooking up to these hydrants at one time … stresses the system.”
Several water companies skipped the boil order and labeled the water unsafe after homes connected to the distribution systems burned down in Camarillo Heights, Camarillo Hills and the Spanish Hills. The debris from these destroyed structures possibly sent toxins into the drinking water. Traditional sanitization methods, like boiling, would not filter the toxins out of the tap water.
“These are not something you can boil out,” Pritchard said. “These are not something you can freeze out. You can’t treat this at home.”
Water companies will need to flush their systems to ensure the toxins are removed.
Residents are encouraged to visit vcemergency.com to see if their homes are affected.
As of Friday, California American Water, Pleasant Valley Mutual Water and Crestview Mutual Water Company have issued unsafe water alerts.
Any customers receiving services from the companies should:
Limit use of hot water.
Limit shower time/bathing, and do not take baths (use lukewarm water and ventilate area)
Use a dishwasher to wash dishes and use air dry setting
Wash clothing in cold water
Avoid using clothes dryers (dry laundry outdoors)
Do not use hot tubs or swimming pools
Do not use ice from automatic ice makers
Use proper ventilation when using water indoors
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