The Tubbs Fire (2017) and Camp Fire (2018) are the first known wildfires where widespread drinking water chemical contamination was discovered in the water distribution network and not in the source water after the fire. In both disasters, drinking water exceeded state and federal government‐defined exposure limits for several volatile organic compound (VOC) contaminants (e.g., benzene at 40,000 µg/L [Tubbs] and >2,217 µg/L [Camp]). This work outlines factors that influence wildfire‐induced drinking water quality threats based on the findings from these two fires and explores related scientific and policy issues. For example, certain plastics in the network may serve as a primary VOC source through in situ plastic pyrolysis. Depressurization of the distribution network likely transported contaminated water that subsequently contaminated undamaged infrastructure. As wildfires at the wildland–urban interface are likely to occur more frequently, greater scientific evidence is needed to guide agency responses that will better protect public health.

Two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology was applied in this study to assess the performance of individual districts of a California water utility for calendar year 2014 (CY2014). A bootstrap technique involving the construction of confidence intervals was implemented to overcome the deterministic nature of conventional DEA, and exogenous variables, such as the number of connections and the total annual precipitation in each district, were incorporated into the model to help identify key factors affecting technical efficiency. Two different DEA models were developed to compare the financial and production performance efficiencies of the districts. Although several districts performed weakly from a production perspective, overall the results indicated the strength and high performance of the utility. The findings of this study are expected to provide a useful way to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual districts and guide subsequent managerial improvement initiatives.