‘No human being’ sends false fire alerts, officials say

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles County’s top emergency management official says he ‘cannot express how sorry’ he is that residents continue to receive false or incorrect emergency alerts on their phone as wildfires are getting out of control.

Los Angeles County Emergency Management Director Kevin McGowan opened Friday morning’s fire news conference with an apology, insisting a bogus technical glitch was to blame.

“There is extreme frustration, anger and fear regarding the erroneous messages that have been sent via the wireless emergency alert system across Los Angeles County,” he added. “I cannot express enough how sorry I am for this experience.”

What we know:

False emergency alerts were sent Thursday afternoon and early Friday, falsely warning recipients that an evacuation warning had been issued for their area.

It took the county 22 minutes to send out a correction, leaving nervous residents in limbo as they tried to determine whether the alert was accurate.

Another erroneous alert with identical warning text was issued early Friday morning.

What we don’t know:

It is unclear why alerts are sent to the wrong places. McGowan said “no one sitting at a desk” was sending bad alerts, instead blaming the technological layers of the system.

But he didn’t go into detail about that system or what safeguards could be put in place to avoid such problems, adding only that his team was working with FEMA experts to resolve the problem. When pressed by FOX 11’s Bob DeCastro, McGowan attempted to explain the sequence by which an alert is sent, but did not provide much clarity on the issue.

McGowan also blamed the “leakage” between cell towers on inaccurate geographic range and said they were working to improve that.

What they say:

“I want to express my deep frustration with the alert system which is causing confusion and additional panic in our communities during this time of extreme crisis. Regardless of the cause, this is unacceptable and the Office of Emergency Management County Emergency Services is currently handling this, as Director McGowan described, we will investigate what happened, how and why, at every level of our comprehensive post-action process to ensure the problem is corrected. » – Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath

Latest fires in California

The backstory:

Several fires are out of control in Southern California, fueled by unusually dry conditions and high winds. As of Friday morning, the five major fires had consumed 35,999 acres and more than 10,000 structures.

At least five people have been killed, but authorities expect that number to rise and evacuation orders are in effect for thousands.

The biggest fire, the Palisades fireis only 8% contained after ravaging more than 20,000 acres and devastating entire neighborhoods.

THE Eaton Fire is 3% contained and has burned nearly 14,000 acres. A do not drink order is in place for Pasadena residents in the area of ​​this fire.

What you can do:

Authorities stress that residents in and around fire zones should remain prepared to evacuate if news arrives, and not turn off emergency alert messages on their phones.

RELATED: What to do before evacuating during California wildfires

If you receive an alert, you should verify the evacuation warning using the maps posted on the site. Cal Fire websiteTHE LA Alert websiteor by dialing 201.

The mapping is accurate even if the alerts are not, McGowan said.

“I implore everyone not to turn off messages on your phone. It’s extremely frustrating, painful and scary,” he added. “But these alert tools saved lives during this emergency. Not receiving an alert can be a life or death consequence.”

Los Angeles County wildfires