A quarterback has to produce and, as Aikman says, that takes a relentless resilience and ability to handle extreme pressure coming from every angle.

Adams said that the reservoir, had it been used, would have extended the time before pressure dropped but would not have averted the inevitable, given the extreme demand.

The district tried to operate normally on Wednesday — when fires first erupted amid extreme winds — closing only an elementary campus in Topanga Canyon.

"The disaster isn't as bad as it is because there's a lack of resource, the reality is there's a limit to how effective wildland firefighting can be under extreme conditions like we experienced this week."

As a climate reporter, I am used to covering extreme weather events.