County Wants Probe into Delayed Evacuation Alerts in Eaton Fire Area Where 17 Died
Two Los Angeles County supervisors are calling for a third-party investigation into the county’s emergency alert system in light of the discovery that all 17 confirmed deaths from the Eaton fire occurred in west Altadena neighborhoods that did not receive evacuation orders until flames were already dangerously close.
Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath introduced a motion requesting a probe into how and when those alerts were deployed in both the Eaton and Palisades fires at Tuesday’s board meeting. The motion will go to a vote during the board’s Jan. 28 meeting.
"Whilst I deeply appreciate the heroic efforts of our first responders, we owe it to our communities to assess and review our emergency notification systems," Barger stated. "Our Board is committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in the face of increasingly severe natural disasters. This independent assessment will also ensure we are better prepared for future disasters and can act swiftly to protect lives and property."
No Warning for West Altadena
The connection between the deaths and the late alerts in Altadena was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Eaton fire, named for the canyon near its ignition point, began shortly after 6 p.m. on January 7 and the first evacuation warnings went into place for the east side of Lake Avenue within two hours. Hurricane-force gusts spread the fire quickly from the mountain side to the neighborhoods below. Embers were launched as far as miles away at times, igniting homes and brush.
Altadena Town Councilmember Connor Cipolla, who grew up in Sierra Madre and experienced his share of wildfires, described the fire as unlike any he had ever experienced. It moved "horizontally" rather than uphill. At one point, the flames burned east and west simultaneously, he said.
"It was a hellish situation that firefighters found themselves in," he said.
Alert System Layered
The Alert LA County system sends out notifications via landline, text, and email. The response also included door knocks, patrols with loudspeakers, as well as leveraging local media to get news to residents quickly, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County’s Coordinated Joint Information Center.
"This is a layered process and system intended to provide redundancy during local and widespread disasters," the statement reads. The county’s internal investigation "will take months because it will require combing through and validating the call histories of the fire, interviewing first responders on the scene, interviewing incident commanders, and searching and reviewing our 911 records, among other essential steps, including obtaining feedback from all relevant sources."
Sleeping through Disaster
Residents who lived in the affected areas shared stories of evacuating during the Eaton fire. One described waking with "bad vibes" at 3:30 a.m. and getting their family to leave their East Harriet Street home. That area did not receive an evacuation order until 5:42 a.m, according to the Public Safety Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN).
"It’s an absolute tragedy what happened to our neighborhood and it was very avoidable," wrote user sillysandhouse. "From what I know, my house had burned down by the time we got an evac. order."
Conducting a Probe
Supervisors Barger and Horvath’s motion for a third-party investigation into the county’s emergency alert system is critical for not only understanding what happened but for ensuring it never happens again. As attorney Gerald Singleton of Singleton Schreiber, who is representing 300 Altadena residents in a lawsuit against Southern California Edison, said, "If there were mistakes made, they very well may have cost lives. This is something that has to be corrected because unfortunately, I don’t think this is the last fire California is going to experience."
FAQs
Q: Why are the supervisors calling for a third-party investigation into the county’s emergency alert system?
A: The supervisors are calling for a third-party investigation to ensure transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in the face of increasingly severe natural disasters.
Q: What is the Alert LA County system?
A: The Alert LA County system sends out notifications via landline, text, and email, as well as door knocks, patrols with loudspeakers, and leveraging local media to get news to residents quickly.
Q: Why did the alerts in the Palisades fire also appear to be delayed?
A: The alerts in the Palisades fire were also delayed, with notification coming 40 minutes after some homes were already burning.
Q: Can the county be held liable for the deaths caused by the delayed alerts?
A: It is challenging to hold a government agency liable for the deaths caused by delayed alerts due to protections offered to agencies providing fire and police services.
