It will take some time before officials can calmly and thoroughly investigate why some fire hydrants in Los Angeles ran dry during the fires.

It might have been a loss of power. And, of course, a city’s fire hydrant system is not set up for a scenario when whole neighborhoods are on fire.

We asked the city of Bend if the city’s water and sewer would continue to function if power was shut off.

The short answer: Yes.

“The City of Bend has backup generators that can be pulled to specific groundwater wells to keep them running in the event of power loss,” Mike Buettner, the city’s water services director, told us in an email. “They run on diesel fuel and are stored at our Boyd Acres facility. A few of our groundwater wells have generators positioned next to the facility at all times. And several wastewater lift stations also have generators built into the design to keep wastewater flowing the right direction.”

Does that mean there are enough generators so the entire system can continue to operate normally?

Buettner said: “Yes on sewer. The water system would continue to run but, depending on the severity of the fire event, we would enter into a water curtailment alert as outlined in our Water Management and Conservation Plan. This reduces water demands and saves fuel in an emergency scenario. In a large fire event, it is very likely that we immediately and temporarily restrict all non-essential water use like landscape irrigation. We’d reach out directly to Bend-La Pine Schools, Bend Park and Recreation District, and our own Transportation and Mobility Department to reduce/stop all irrigation. Then we’d reach out to high water users and begin reducing as possible.”

The city’s water curtailment plan has three levels that ramp up in severity. Basically, using water for anything other than human consumption and sanitation could be prohibited. No watering the lawn. No washing the car. And there would be a penalty. It is a Class B violation to use water not for human consumption and sanitation in such circumstances. The penalty can be as high as $400 a day.

Look at your own home. Wildfires even miles away can spread with burning embers floating in the wind and landing on fire-ripe ground. Make your home less wildfire friendly.