The emergency alert system in Los Angeles was the first time many people heard of the need to flee when major wildfires erupted this week.
MARIO TAMA
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Los Angeles apologizes for false fire evacuation alarms
By Robin GREMMEL
Los Angeles emergency managers apologized Friday after false evacuation alerts caused panic in a city on edge due to an unprecedented wildfire disaster.
Millions of cell phones rang Thursday afternoon and again Friday morning with automated warnings urging people to prepare to flee.
“This is an emergency message from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area,” said the message, which was widely disseminated on Thursday, including in areas well away from the danger zones.
“Remain alert to any threats and be ready to evacuate. Gather your loved ones, pets, and supplies.”
Huge fires in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and around Altadena have consumed 35,000 acres, destroying thousands of buildings and killing 10 people.
For many Los Angeles residents, the alert system was the first time they heard about the flames and the need to flee.
Around 153,000 people are currently under mandatory evacuation orders across the region.
A correction was sent out 20 minutes later, explaining that the alert had only been applied to the new Kenneth Fire, which was exploding north of the city.
However, a similar erroneous message was sent around 4 am on Friday.
Kevin McGowan, director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, said the automatic errors caused “frustration, anger (and) fear”.
“I don't have words to express how sorry I am,” he told reporters.
McGowan said he was working with experts to find out what had gone wrong and why so many people received messages that didn't apply to them.
“I implore everyone not to turn off the messages on their phones,” he said.
“This is extremely frustrating, painful, and frightening, but these alert tools have saved lives during these emergencies.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the error was “unacceptable”.
“I want to express my deep frustration with the alert system that is causing confusion and additional panic in our communities at this time of extreme crisis,” she said.
“Whatever the cause, it is unacceptable.”
Chris Sheach, assistant professor of disaster management at Paul Smith's College, said that automated warning systems are always susceptible to “glitches and bugs”, especially as they are rarely used at scale, but remain vital to reducing the death toll during disasters.
“It's likely to have been a coding error,” he told AFP, causing warnings to reach unintended recipients in the wrong area codes.
“The benefits far outweigh the risks. If this had happened in Palisades in 1975... the only way to evacuate people would have been with fire trucks going street by street with a megaphone.”
Sheach said that it is important for the authorities to be direct about mistakes so that citizens don't ignore or turn off future alerts.
“Millions of these messages are sent every year all over the country, all over the world, to communities that are appropriate, safe, and on time,” he said.
“Because of those mistakes, it takes a little more work to build trust.”
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