A second false evacuation alert was sent Friday night to residents in areas unaffected by ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County.
Around 4 a.m. Friday, a second emergency alert message targeted only to people near the Kenneth Fire was sent to phones across the county and in parts of San Bernardino County, with a message urging recipients to prepare to evacuate. Sent.
The alert was issued after a similar error occurred on Thursday. Around 4 p.m., an emergency alert intended for residents near the Kenneth Fire in West Hills was accidentally sent to cellphones throughout Los Angeles, including downtown Los Angeles, the South Bay, and Los Angeles. Westside and Orange County. A “corrected” alert was issued minutes later, including a loud bang, explaining that the alert was specifically for fires in the West Hills area, not the entire county’s roughly 10 million residents.
Kevin McGowan, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, said the alert was not the result of human error.
“Right now, there’s no one sitting at a desk issuing emergency alerts,” McGowan said at a press conference Friday morning. “They are not activated or initiated by humans.”
This type of firefighting plane is known as a “super scooper” because it can drop water in the event of a fire.
He advised anyone who receives an emergency alert to use alertla.org, lacounty.gov/emergency or call 211 to verify accuracy.
“I urge everyone not to disable messaging on their cell phones,” McGowan said. “While this is extremely frustrating, painful and frightening, these alert tools have saved lives during this emergency. Not receiving an alert can be a matter of life or death.”
Mr McGowan said resolving this issue is now a top priority.
“I am fully committed to working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Warning and Alert Team,” McGowan said. “We have all of our technical experts working to resolve this issue and determine the root cause.
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