‘Gather loved ones…,’ Officials mistakenly send evacuation order to entire county

The Los Angeles County Fire Department Thursday afternoon (Jan 9) mistakenly alerted people about evacuation warning, causing widespread panic and confusion. People received notifications on their cell phones at around 4 pm local time, ordering them to evacuate, even in those areas that were largely unaffected.

The alert caused anxiety among county residents, who feared their homes were now in danger too. 

However, a spokesperson for the fire department later clarified the notification was sent by mistake. “It was an error,” said spokesperson Kaitlyn Aldana.

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The department shortly dispatched another alert, urging the residents to disregard the evacuation order. Officials from the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management said the alert was meant for the Kenneth fire, which affected areas only near West Hills bordering Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

It was not immediately known how many people actually received the evacuation alert. About 9.6 million people live in Los Angeles. County officials later blamed ‘technical error’ for the mistake. 

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LA has been fighting raging wildfires that erupted earlier this week, described as the “most widespread, devastating” in California’s history by President Joe Biden. 

Speaking during a special meeting of senior administration officials at the White House, Biden hailed firefighters as “heroes” who were running into the flames to battle the blazes and rescue people in LA who were “living through a nightmare”

Reaction on social media

Users on social media shared their frustration over the officials’ mistake, saying the authorities can’t afford to make such errors at this crucial time.

“LA officials so incompetent this FALSE evacuation alert just went to Millions of people, mistakenly,” said one user.

“Extremely risky error from LA County for that mistaken alert. Now people are wondering if they need to evacuate needlessly— potential for chaos,” said a second user.

Extremely risky error from LA County for that mistaken alert.

Now people are wondering if they need to evacuate needlessly— potential for chaos.

And if they issue a cancellation— you’ll have people in *actual* evacuation zones wondering if they need to leave.

Unbelievable.

— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) January 10, 2025