Every smartphone in Los Angeles mistakenly received a wildfire evacuation alert
As well as forest fires Rage for the third day in a row across parts of Los Angelesnow including Hollywood Hills, many neighborhoods had to evacuate for safety reasons. But on Thursday afternoon, a wildfire evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the smartphone of every resident in Los Angeles County, an area home to more than 9 million people.
“An evacuation order for residents near the Kenneth Fire currently burning in West Hills was mistakenly issued countywide,” the Los Angeles County official account wrote in a statement. Share on X. “This alert was only intended for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills.”
Several Los Angeles residents posted on social media that they received the push notification around 4pm PT, despite being in areas well away from any active fire. An emergency alert interrupted the live broadcast on Fox LA. Confound the meteorologist on the air.
The province-wide smartphone push notification was issued “due to a technical error,” according to The Verge. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahnnoting in a post on X that a patch will be sent soon.
Smartphone makers allow government officials to send emergency notifications to users based on their location, a particularly important feature for California residents when wildfires occur. However, such mistakes can cause needless panic in an already stressful situation.
