While hydrants can play a role in fighting a wildfire in its early stages, the systems weren’t designed to combat the large blazes currently ravaging the Los Angeles area.

Firefighters battled a townhouse fire in Flushing, Queens, complicated by a frozen hydrant and resulting in three injuries.

“The first companies got there and they had heavy fire coming out the first floor,” Paolicelli said on X. “When they stretched their hose, they had a frozen hydrant in front of the building, so they ...