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If you live in Los Angeles County, there’s a good chance your phone blared and buzzed just before 4 p.m. on Jan. 9, informing you that an “EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area” due to the fires burning across the region.
I was on the phone with a climate scientist (who was explaining that we have to coexist with fire if we want to live in L.A.) when I got the alert. It was a shock, especially since I live about 15 miles from the closest blaze.
“Gather loved ones, pets, and supplies,” the alert advised. After a moment of panic, I looked out my office window, where I could see the smoke plume from the Eaton fire a good distance away. I quickly checked the county’s evacuation map; no warning zones close to us.
An emergency alert evacuation warning on an iPhone during the Eaton fire.
(Kirby Lee / Getty Images)
So I continued with the interview. Just as I finished, my phone lit up again: “Disregard last EVACUATION WARNING. It was for Kenneth Fire Only.” That blaze was burning on the western edge of the San Fernando Valley near Woodland Hills and Calabasas.
“Well, someone screwed up,” I and millions of fellow county residents said in unison after a quick sigh of relief.
The next day, county officials acknowledged the error.
L.A. County’s correction alert, which I received about 20 minutes after the false fire evacuation warning.
(Ryan Fonseca / Los Angeles Times)
“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…