Los Angeles wildfires: Officials don’t know why false evacuation warnings were sent to millions

As Wildfires have been raging throughout the Los Angeles region this week, the 10 million residents of LA County have been close to their phones, ready for text alerts from officials about whether they should pack their things and leave their homes urgently.

On Thursday afternoon, millions of residents of the Los Angeles area received an evacuation notice that did not specify the neighborhood or fire, although there are at least three major fires burning in the county. It reads like this:

“Emergency alert. NEW: This is an emergency message from the Los Angeles County Fire Department,” the notice said. “An EVACUATION NOTICE has been issued in your area. Remain vigilant of any threat and be ready to evacuate. Collect your loved ones, pets and supplies. Continue to monitor local weather, news and website alertla.org for more information.”

The warning reached from Long Beach south to north of downtown LA and almost everywhere in between, covering tens of square miles. The problem? It was a mistake.

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Santa Monica, the coastal city of LA County that has already suffered evacuation orders and warnings due to its proximity to the Palisades inferno, fired a tweet responding to the emergency alert and telling residents that nothing had changed since Thursday afternoon.

Tweet may have been deleted

At 4:20 pm Thursday afternoon, a new countywide alert was sent out, telling residents that the previous evacuation notice was sent in error. The message added that it should only apply to those affected by the Kenneth Fire in northwest Los Angeles, but the message did not include details about that specific fire or its location. Another problem is that emergency alerts are not saved in most smartphones, which means that they are very difficult to retrieve and read again.

Word Thursday afternoon was that another vague evacuation warning was issued Friday morning to residents of the Los Angeles area dozens of miles from the fires. reports the Los Angeles Times.

Kevin McGowan, the director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, apologized in a statement Los Angeles Timessaying, “I can’t express enough how sorry I am.” McGowan said the emergency warnings were automated and no individual or group of people sent them, adding that he did not know the cause of the errors. County IT employees and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials are investigating the matter, McGowan said, pleading with area residents not to disable warnings in view of technical problems.

Updated information about fires can be found on alertla.orgas well as the free app Watch Duty.