A software failure in January is what caused a confusing and erroneous fire evacuation warning to be sent to cell phones across the Southland, revealing a need for improvements to the warning system to prevent future errors, according to a report released today.
The glitch that caused this particular error has since been fixed, but the system needs better oversight and more funding to ensure it functions properly, according to the document.
The report prepared at the behest of more than a dozen congressional representatives, led by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, also suggested that Los Angeles County should improve the wording of alert messages, ensuring they provide specifics about evacuation warning areas and timestamps.
“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.”
The erroneous alert message was sent the afternoon of Jan. 9 when the Kenneth Fire erupted amid the windstorm-driven fires that ultimately destroyed much of Pacific Palisades and the Altadena area.
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 released Monday, the initial erroneous report occurred 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.
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. A more precise description of the affected area could have been accomplished with language 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.
“While (the Kenneth Fire) message did include a link to AlertLA.org, where they (recipients) could have found a map, some users might not have Wi-Fi or cellular data to be able to open the link; and even if they could access the site they needed to scroll down, toggle an interactive map, and zoom in to see whether their neighborhood was included in the evacuation warning area,” according to the report.
The report concluded: “Congress and federal agencies must act now to close identified gaps in alerting system performance, certification, and public communication. The lessons from the Kenneth Fire should not only inform reforms, but serve as a catalyst to modernize the nation’s alerting infrastructure before the next disaster strikes.”