Key findings on the causes of an erroneous wildfire evacuation alert that was accidentally sent to millions of Los Angeles County residents during January's fires and windstorm were part of a Congressional report released Monday.
The alerts intended for residents affected by the Kenneth Fire in the San Fernando Valley community of West Hills were sent to nearly 10 million county residents, sparking concern and confusion. Rep. Robert Garcia, one of the lawmakers who requested the report, said the alerts were a "wake-up call" over a crucial matter of public trust.
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"The Kenneth Fire false alert was a wake-up call," Garcia said in a statement Monday. "It showed the consequences of software failures, vague message wording, and a lack of federal standards. We must modernize our emergency alert systems to ensure that warnings are accurate, timely, and targeted. The public's trust is at stake."
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SIGN UP The alert error, which sent mobile notifications with sound to people who were not in the evacuation area, was caused by a software failure that has since been corrected, but additional funding and oversight of wireless alert systems is needed to prevent future errors, according to the report.
The report also suggested that Los Angeles County should improve the wording of alert messages to provide specific details about evacuation warning areas and timestamps.
The erroneous alert message was sent on the afternoon of Jan. 9, two days after the start of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, the Eaton Fire in Altadena and several smaller fires that were driven by powerful Santa Ana winds. Several evacuation warnings and orders were issued at a harrowing time in Southern California as the wind-fanned fires threatened communities.
Kevin McGowan, director of the county Office of Emergency Management, said the erroneous messages were the result of a computer issue and officials quickly began working to resolve it. But a second erroneous message intended for the Kenneth Fire area was sent out again the following day.
According to the report, the initial erroneous report was sent to millions because an accurate "evacuation area polygon" had not been uploaded to the federal public alert and warning system. The local firm that oversees the alerts, Genasys Inc., failed to notify the county that the polygon was missing, resulting in the alert being sent to 10 million people countywide rather than to the targeted neighborhoods, according to the report.
The report noted that Genasys has since added safeguards to correct the issue. The report also noted that county officials reacted quickly and sent out a correction message within 20 minutes. But it also suggested that the county improve the wording of alert messages to make them more clear.
"Los Angeles County may have avoided damage to people outside the impacted Kenneth Fire area had their message included more information on the location or the timing of the danger," according to the report. "This additional information is also important for people who have older phones, where geotargeting is not precise on those devices."
The report included examples of a more precise description of the affected areas, such as "An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued for Calabasas/Agoura Hills" instead of "An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued for your area."
The report called for increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's wireless alert technology, along with bolstered requirements and oversight of third-party companies involved in issuing the alerts.
It also called for maps to be included in wireless alerts.
