Southern Californians from Long Beach to Santa Clarita heard it; the loud, blaring blasts from their phones, and the startling warning:
“EMERGENCY ALERT - NEW: This is an emergency message from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued for your area. Remain vigilant of any threats and be ready to evacuate. Gather loved ones, pets, and supplies. Continue to monitor local weather, news, and the webpage alertla.org for more information.”
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But this was a mistake, as confirmed by L.A. Counter Supervisor Janice Hahn.
“I have been informed the evacuation warning that many of us just received on our phones was mistakenly issued countywide due to a technical error,” read a tweet from Hahn. “A correction will be issued shortly.”
How bad was this mistake? 10 million people bad.
Cities and agencies across the Southland chimed in to back up this sentiment, including the city of Santa Clarita, the city of Santa Monica, and the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station.
22 minutes later, a second alert was issued to correct the mistake. But those 22 minutes were absolute chaos for many Angelenos.
"An evacuation order for residents near the Kenneth Fire currently burning in West Hills was mistakenly issued to nearly 10 million County residents along with some residents of neighboring counties," read a statement from L.A. County Director of the Office of Emergency Management Director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. "This warning was intended only for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills and those within the West Hills community of Los Angeles. We understand that these wildfires have created great anxiety, hardship and distress among our residents, and we are committed to sharing accurate information. For updates on wildfires currently burning in LA County, including evacuation information, please visit lacounty.gov/emergency."
Or tune into KNX News 97.1 FM - we're live 24/7 with continuous coverage of the wildfires raging across Southern California. We have also never sent a false evacuation order to 10 million people, for what it's worth.
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