LA County wildfire alert mistakenly sent to millions due to tech glitch
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A technological glitch caused an emergency alert to be mistakenly sent to millions of Los Angeles County residents in January rather than only those in the proximity of a wildfire, according to a congressional report.
The mistaken alert on Jan. 9 came as residents were on edge two days after fierce winds and deadly wildfires ripped across Los Angeles County hillsides and burned through communities. The alert message was only supposed to go to residents in the San Fernando Valley facing an evacuation warning due to the
Kenneth Fire
.
The
report
issued Monday by Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach found that Los Angeles County officials properly coded the alert to reach the wireless devices of a more limited group of people. But the alert was sent to residents across the county of 10 million people, and without specific geographic information, prompting concern and confusion after two days of devastating wildfires.
That's because the coding for the precise location didn't get saved into the IPAWS federal channel for local emergency alerts, which software provider Genasys believed might be due to a network disruption, the report said. 'The initial false alert is believed to be caused by technology issues with third-party technology vendor Genasys,' the report said.
The report did not address how emergency alerts were handled in the Eaton and Palisades fires.
In the Eaton Fire in Altadena,
evacuation orders
went out long after houses were reported burning. LA County officials have launched their own independent review, led by a third party, of evacuation policies and the emergency alert system. An initial report released last month said nearly three dozen people who responded to the fires had been interviewed and more interviews were planned. The next report on the review is expected by July 27.
In the Palisades fire, residents said they
received notification
about the blaze on their phones well after they could see it coming and decided on their own to leave, reporting by The Associated Press found.
Garcia's report suggested that Los Angeles County officials could use more location-specific language in the text of warnings so residents know where they are intended for, and the need for enhanced training and standardized software to prevent issues like the faulty alert issued in connection with the Kenneth Fire.
'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,' the report said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Colombian presidential candidate in a critical condition following assassination attempt
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Miguel Uribe, a conservative Colombian presidential hopeful, was in critical condition on Monday after being shot in the head from close range during a rally at the weekend. In a statement, doctors said the 39-year-old senator had 'barely' responded to medical interventions, that included brain surgery, following the assassination attempt that has had a chilling effect on the South American nation. Uribe was shot on Saturday as he addressed a small crowd of people who had gathered in a park in Bogota's Modelia neighborhood. On Sunday hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital where Uribe is being treated to pray for his recovery. Some carried rosaries in their hands, while others chanted slogans against President Gustavo Petro. 'This is terrible' said Walter Jimenez a lawyer who showed up outside the hospital, with a sign calling for Petro's removal. 'It feels like we are going back to the 1990's,' he said, referring to a decade during which drug cartels and rebel groups murdered judges, presidential candidates and journalists with impunity. Petro has condemned the attack and urged his opponents to not use it for political ends. But some Colombians have also asked the president to tone down his rhetoric against opposition leaders. The assassination attempt has stunned the nation, with many politicians describing it as the latest sign of how security has deteriorated in Colombia, where the government is struggling to control violence in rural and urban areas, despite a 2016 peace deal with the nation's largest rebel group. The attack on Uribe comes amid growing animosity between Petro and the Senate over blocked reforms to the nation's labor laws. Petro has organized protests in favor of the reforms, where he has delivered fiery speeches referring to opposition leaders as 'oligarchs' and 'enemies of the people." 'There is no way to argue that the president… who describes his opponents as enemies of the people, paramilitaries and assassins has no responsibility in this' Andres Mejia, a prominent political analyst, wrote on X. The Attorney General's office said a 15-year-old boy was arrested at the scene of the attack against Uribe. Videos captured on social media show a suspect shooting at Uribe from close range. The suspect was injured in the leg and was recovering at another clinic, authorities said. Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez added that over 100 officers are investigating the attack. On Monday, Colombia's Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo said that minors in Colombia face sentences of up to eight years in detention for committing murders. Camargo acknowledged that lenient sentences have encouraged armed groups to recruit minors to commit crimes. However, she said that Colombian law also considers that minors who are recruited by armed groups are victims, and is trying to protect them. 'As a society we need to reflect on why a minor is getting caught up in a network of assassins, and what we can do to stop this from happening in the future' she said.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Legislature to repeal MinnesotaCare for undocumented adults
Demonstrators gather for a protest organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee calling for the continuation of MinnesotaCare for undocumented adults at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer) Despite Democratic-Farmer-Labor control of the state Senate, the governor's office, and half of the House, Republicans forced Democrats to roll back one of their signature accomplishments from the 2023 legislative session: health care for undocumented people. The Legislature is expected to vote Monday to repeal undocumented adults' eligibility for MinnesotaCare, the state-subsidized health insurance program for the working poor. Children would still be covered. Republicans successfully used their leverage — the threat of a government shutdown starting July 1 — to force the Democrats' hand on an issue that is of supreme importance to GOP lawmakers. The DFL pulled out all nearly of the stops to avoid cutting health care access for undocumented adults. During negotiations, DFL leaders offered Republicans concessions related to paid leave, earned sick and safe time, and noncompete agreements — but Republicans didn't budge, said Sen. Alice Mann, DFL-Edina. 'They turned all of those things down, because all they wanted…was to make sure that the 17,000 people were left out to die, that we worsen our health care system and that we decrease our tax revenue,' Mann said at a press conference Monday decrying the move. When Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders announced a budget deal — contingent on repealing MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adults — on May 15, lawmakers with the People of Color Indigenous Caucus protested outside the door. They told reporters later that they were blindsided by the deal. After the announcement, POCI caucus members brought alternatives to legislative leaders, said Rep. Liish Kozlowski, DFL-Duluth. The POCI caucus suggested capping undocumented enrollment in MinnesotaCare, raising premiums, allowing children currently enrolled to retain coverage instead of aging out, or making exceptions for elderly people or those with chronic conditions. None of those options made it into the bill, which is expected to be heard first on the House floor during a 21-hour special session beginning at 10 a.m. Republicans have repeatedly exaggerated the cost of providing health care to undocumented people enrolled in MinnesotaCare. Enrollment has exceeded the state's expectations, however, with more than 17,000 undocumented people currently enrolled. Meanwhile, per-person spending on the undocumented population has been lower than expected, according to the Department of Human Services. Federal politics and funding have complicated the issue: A budget bill passed by the GOP-controlled U.S. House would cut funding to states that provide health care to undocumented people, including Minnesota. And while the federal government pays for some of the cost of MinnesotaCare, it doesn't contribute any money for undocumented enrollees. Walz is expected to sign the bill into law.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lawmakers condemn Trump's use of Guard, active-duty troops in LA
Congressional Democrats and administration critics condemned President Donald Trump's decision this weekend to federalize National Guard troops in California as a serious breach of standards for the involvement of the military in domestic affairs. 'Such unilateral action, taken without consultation with local leaders, risks escalating tensions rather than calming them,' Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Sunday night. 'This move sets a troubling precedent for military intervention in local law enforcement. 'It is crucial that decisions of this magnitude are made with transparency, restraint, and respect for constitutional balance.' Over the weekend, Trump announced plans to deploy 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests over immigration policies and enforcement. About 300 have already arrived in the city to help with peacekeeping activities. The move came over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called the move 'a serious breach of state sovereignty' in a social media post Sunday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in a statement called Trump's decision 'an abuse of power and a dangerous escalation. It's what you would see in authoritarian states and it must stop.' Officials from the veterans organization Common Defense said the moves 'undermine civil rights and betray the principles we swore to uphold.' Newsom and others promised to file legal actions in coming days to challenge the president's decision. In addition to the Guard actions, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took to social media late Saturday night to say that if violence in the Los Angeles region continues, 'active duty Marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized.' Officials said about 500 active-duty personnel are preparing to deploy if needed. Trump has cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States.' But critics have called his interpretation of the law an overreaction, and noted that the recent moves were the first time in decades that a state's National Guard was activated without a request from its governor. Hegseth is scheduled to testify before the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on Tuesday, where he will likely face additional questions about the military deployments. The Los Angeles protests were sparked by the arrest of more than 40 individuals in immigration raids across the city Friday. Since then, nearly 60 more have been charged with vandalism and violence for attempts to block federal officials from conducting additional operations. Trump on social media said the individuals objecting to the immigration raids 'are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists.' He also repeatedly criticized Newsom and local Democratic leaders for not taking a stronger stance against the violence. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
