California Wildfires

LA County board approves motion calling for independent review of emergency notifications

Erroneous alerts were sent to some residents during the Kenneth Fire and questions surround the timing of notifications sent hours after the Eaton Fire started in Pasadena.

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With multiple wildfires burning, the entire county of Los Angeles received an evacuation warning directly to their cellphones by mistake. Kevin McGowan, the director of LA County’s Office of Emergency Management, apologizes and explains what went wrong. This report aired on NBC4 on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.

A motion calling for an independent review of the emergency notification systems used to alert residents during the January wildfires and other crises was approved tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

Questions about the notification system were raised after faulty alerts were sent to some residents during the Kenneth Fire in the west San Fernando Valley. Supervisors also want to look into why an evacuation alert for an Altadena neighborhood wasn't sent until hours after the Eaton Fire exploded in the community northeast of Los Angeles.

"Questions have arisen about the process used for evacuations, and the partners involved in issuing evacuation orders," according to the motion. "A review and assessment of existing emergency notification systems must be conducted to understand what was done and what the County should do moving forward. This analysis and report should be conducted by a third party to ensure an independent review."

Details about a timeline for the review were not immediately available.

During the Jan. 9 Kenneth Fire in West Hills, several erroneous alerts were sent to cell phones countywide telling residents they were in an evacuation area. The alerts were intended for residents near the fire, which burned about 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, but instead went to millions of residents countywide and some people in Orange County.

Authorities at the time called it a technology issue, not human error.

New video shows an electrical spark in the hills above Altadena that is now being investigated as what could have grown to the massive Eaton Fire that ripped through the community. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025.

In Altadena, residents in one area of the deadly Eaton Fire were not alerted until several hours after the blaze had started on the night of Jan. Seventeen deaths were reported in the Eaton Fire west of Lake Avenue, a neighborhood that did not receive any kind of electronic alert until nine hours after the deadly fire started.

A map from the Public Broadcasting System showed the first alert that went out on Jan. 7 at 6:48 p.m. in the east side of Altadena, just 30 minutes after the Eaton Fire started. The map showed that the area in western Altadena received an alert at 3:25 a.m. The neighborhoods in between did not receive an evacuation warning.

The 17 deaths connected to the Eaton Fire were in the west side of Altadena, the neighborhoods that did not receive an evacuation warning until the middle of the night on Jan. 8.

The fire started in the foothills in a Santa Ana windstorm that firefighters have described as among the worst they've ever seen.

In the motion introduced last week and approved Tuesday, county Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath called for an external, independent analysis of the emergency alert systems used by the county.

"Our board is committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in the face of increasingly severe natural disasters," Barger said in a statement. "This independent assessment will also ensure we are better prepared for future disasters and can act swiftly to protect lives and property."

The motion called for the board to receive a progress report every 90 days until the full review is completed.

"Our communities affected by the Palisades, Eaton, and all other fires deserve a transparent and full accounting of everything that occurred," Horvath said. "Los Angeles County is committed to understanding every aspect of these events to ensure we are continually improving our emergency management practices and better protecting our residents."

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