January 14, 20254 min readFires can make drinking water, pipes and tanks unsafe. An environmental engineer explains why that’s so and what to doBy Andrew J. Whelton & The Conversation US Water runs from a pipe where a home once stood, destroyed by the Palisades Fire, on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades community of Los Angeles, California. Jay L. Clendenin/Getty ImagesThe following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.The wildfires in the Los Angeles area have destroyed thousands of structures,…