Fire Water (Current)

LITTLE CONCRETE BOXES IN THE HILLS

There are hydrants in these boxes in the San Gabriel Mountains.

The boxes are 3 by 3 by 3 feet with metal lids secured by a padlock. Up the hill are steel tanks or concrete vaults with holes in their tops to collect and store rainwater. They were built between 1933 and 1940 by the Civilian Conservation Corps for fighting fires.

Some are decrepit and some seem to be maintained. Employees of the US Forest Service say they are not responsible for them. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection does not claim them. The County of Los Angeles Fire Department maintains two down the hill from Henninger Flats.

All are numbered and some are named. The numbers are mostly prefaced by EW (emergency water), a few FW (fire water), a couple JW (unknown). LA County’s are called H1 and H2 (hydrant); they are served by cisterns at Henninger Flats once used to irrigate the truck garden. At Henninger Flats is a hose bibb marked HB1 used to fill water bottles and a dog bowl.