Every cell phone in LA accidentally received a wildfire evacuation alert

Like wildfire anger for the third day in a row through parts of Los Angelesnow including the Hollywood Hills, several communities have been forced to evacuate for safety reasons. But on Thursday afternoon, an evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the cell phone of every resident of Los Angeles County, an area of ​​more than 9 million people.

“The order to evacuate residents near the Kenneth Fire currently burning in the West Hills was erroneously issued Countywide,” an LA County official wrote. post on X. “This warning was issued to residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills only.”

Several people in Los Angeles tweeted that they received fire alerts as early as 4pm PT, even though they were in areas far from any of the fires. An emergency alert interrupted Fox LA’s broadcast, interrupting the meteorologist on the air.

The smartphone push notification was issued nationwide “due to a technical error,” according to LA Area Manager Janice Hahnnoting the post on X that the correction will be sent soon.

Cell phone manufacturers allow state officials to send emergency notifications to users based on their location, which is critical for California residents during wildfires. However, mistakes like these can cause unnecessary panic in an already difficult situation.