Topline:
At around 4:00 p.m. Thursday everyone in L.A. County received an alert from the Office of Emergency Management to prepare for evacuation.
Why it matters: It happens. The region is dealing with unprecedented circumstances of unrelenting winds, many fires, and people who are doing their best to keep us safe and informed.
Fires are raging across Los Angeles, with new ones starting up at any moment's notice.
Angelenos have been glued to their phones for the latest alerts and information.
At around 4 p.m. Thursday, everyone in L.A. County received an alert from the Office of Emergency Management to prepare for evacuation. Then, about 12 hours later, another widespread alert was issued after 4 a.m. and startled many people out of their beds.
When the first error took place, if you tried to click through to the details, you probably could not. Scary. The second one, the click through was related to the Palisades Fire.
Kevin McGowan, who heads L.A. Office of Emergency Management, apologized for the erroneous messages at a Friday morning news conference, saying they were not sent by an individual. He also asked people not to turn off their alerts.
About 8 hours later, the county provided additional information about what went wrong.
County officials said they share "our residents’ anger and frustration about erroneous emergency alerts." And they called the multiple errors a "serious breach of public trust."
OK, but what went wrong?
According to county officials, the initial steps to send the alert were done correctly.
"Our preliminary investigation indicates that an accurate, correctly-targeted alert went out from LA County’s Emergency Operations Center at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 9," they said in an email that went out shortly after 5 p.m. Friday.
From there, however, "the alert was erroneously sent out to nearly 10 million residents across the County."
The vendor, Genasys, is now testing to determine why the alert didn't just go to phones within the geo-targeted area and the company has added safeguards, according to the email.
L.A. County is switching "all local emergency notifications to the CalOES alert system until we have assurances that this problem will not be repeated."
They also looking into what they are calling "echoes" of the first wrong alert, which they say have continued to go out. (If you've gotten a random evacuation alert outside of the main two, that's what they're talking about.)
They're not understating it when they say these alerts are "alarming residents already facing the horrifying effects of destructive wildfires that are still burning."
"Our preliminary assessment is that these recurring erroneous notifications are due to issues with telecommunications systems, likely due to the fires’ impacts on cellular towers," they said. "We are working actively with FEMA and industry partners to identify and resolve these issues."
They also asking people not to delete the app urging those who have not yet done so, to sign up for them.
It went to phones in Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, Long Beach, and even Catalina Island. And apparently, in Newport Beach.
One of our colleagues was walking in downtown Los Angeles and reports everyone's phones started screaming at the same time. It was surreal.
Amid the general hellscape reality we've been living, it was also quite frightening.
Minutes later, another alert was sent to correct the mistake, saying the original message was meant for those in West Hills, for the new Kenneth Fire. It was just as loud and jarring.
Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said via X that the notice was "sent in error by the Los Angeles County Fire Department."
Long Beach residents-
— Office of Mayor Rex Richardson (@LongBeachMayor) January 10, 2025
The evacuation notice we all received a moment ago was sent in error by Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Long Beach is not under an evacuation order.
Follow the @LongBeachCity for official updates.
This time, no screaming follow up message. It was 4:24 a.m. after all. L.A. County officials issued a notification nearly three hours later acknowledged the error, saying they were working with FEMA "to investigate the issue."
And they pointed folks to maps at AlertLA.org to fact check the current status. [Note: at 7:30 a.m. no map was rendering on that page.]
Some other places to check:
Important update on emergency alert issue.
— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) January 10, 2025
Actualizacion importante sobre el problema de la alerta de emergencia.#EatonFire #PalisadesFire pic.twitter.com/ymzol8NEcd
We just want to say: These kind of things happen. Although twice now feels like a lot.
That said, the region is dealing with unprecedented circumstances of unrelenting winds, many fires, and people who are doing their best to keep us safe and informed. Being fast can save lives — although maybe a tiny pause could have prevented millions of moments of panic.
And we ask you to consider this, for comparison. It's not like an alert was sent warning people to seek shelter from an incoming ballistic missile or anything.
That happened in Hawaii in 2018.
Robert Garrova contributed to this report.
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If you have to evacuate
If you have more time:
Things to consider
Navigating fire conditions
How to help yourself and others
Understanding how it got this bad