It’s been almost a week since LA residents and the fire department have been battling deadly fires. With more than 5 different fires burning down the lives and livelihoods of residents, gaps in the administration have come to light, with the lack of resources, mainly empty fire hydrants, being a cause of concern for the moment.
The combination of dry winter, drought, and Santa Ana has literally acted as fuel to the fire. With these statistics came the reports of water exhaustion by many celebrities for keeping the grounds of their multi-million dollar homes green.
Among these celebrities are Kim Kardashian and her sisters, who have been fined repeatedly for their water wastage. The report of the Kardashian-Jenner family being the biggest water wasters is not new, though. In 2022, Rolling Stone published reports of several celebrities wasting water and consuming well above their quota, with the social media influencer clan being a part of it.
Los Angeles fire hydrants are OUT OF WATER because the county REFUSED to refill reservoirs
“You can’t fight a fire without water!”
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#PalisadeFire pic.twitter.com/g9zhlYFCyQ— Alistair Pallesen (@yzimng2) January 8, 2025
Kim Kardashian consumed 232,000 gallons of water over the limit to keep her $60-million-dollar home running, while Khloe Kardashian apparently overused 101,000 gallons of water.
Every year, LA County declares water allowances based on the size of the property and the number of people residing in the property. Yet, the Kardashians are not the only ones found guilty of the wastage of precious resources as ,any high-profile doctors and lawyers have also made the list, which already has several celebrity names on it, including the likes of Kevin Hart, NBA player Dwyane Wade, and Sylvester Stallone. They have managed to run the city dry by consuming 437,000 gallons of water.
Kim Kardashian repeatedly broke California drought rules, reports @latimes — exceeding her water limit by 230,000 gallons in June.
Other offenders include Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Hart. Millions in southern California are under strict water limits after 23 years of drought. pic.twitter.com/GaVFQwRIov
— AJ+ (@ajplus) August 22, 2022
It was reported that once they had to pay the city fines, the Kardashian sisters reportedly put schemes in place to avoid water wastage. However, now that the fire is raging across the homes and burning them to the ground without discrimination, locals are justifiably angry as the feel that the elite have stripped the county of its precious resources just because of their financial superiority.
This is not the only entitled behavior these celebrities have been accused of. During the last LA fires, many of the A-listers of Hollywood, including Kim and Kanye West (who were together at that time), had hired private firefighters to keep their property safe. They were accused of being insensitive towards the plight of others.
While the firefighters might not have expected a water or fire hydrant shortage, it must be noted that the natural conditions of the region weren’t in their favor.
LA has been consistently in either drought or drought-like conditions for the past few years. Less rainfall and extreme water consumption for almond cultivation have put the water scarcity of the county in the red zone. In December 2024, the latest map of California showed almost 40% of the state was out of drought-like conditions, but the fire has put LA and San Diego back on the list.
