Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

News

LA County has some answers on why 10 million people got false alarms — twice

A text asking for people to evacuate.
False alarm: This alert to prepare for evacuation was sent in error today.
(
LAist
)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today during our fall member drive. 

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.

Support for LAist comes from

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?

The investigation, so far

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.

Support for LAist comes from

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.

Immediate steps

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."

Support for LAist comes from

They also asking people not to delete the app urging those who have not yet done so, to sign up for them.

The first false alarm

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.

A screenshot of a text message, saying there is no alert for the City of Avalon.
(
LAist
)
Support for LAist comes from

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said via X that the notice was "sent in error by the Los Angeles County Fire Department."

The second false alarm

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:

Some perspective

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.

Do you have a question about the wildfires or fire recovery?
Check out LAist.com/FireFAQs to see if your question has already been answered. If not, submit your questions here, and we’ll do our best to get you an answer.

_

Fire resources and tips

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

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist