Emergency evacuation alert sent in error to scores of Los Angeles residents

Terry Castleman and Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times on Jan 9, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

LOS ANGELES — Across Los Angeles, phones rang loudly with an alert to evacuate just before 4 p.m. on Thursday.

The city Emergency Management Department said the alert was sent “in ERROR.” “Evacuation orders have not changed,” the department said in a post on X.

Los Angeles Times staffers across the metropolitan area — from Long Beach to Echo Park and beyond — received the alert, which did not appear to discriminate by distance from any particular fire.

“This is an emergency message from the Los Angeles County Fire Department,” the notice read. “An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area.”

In the media room at the city of Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center in downtown Los Angeles, phones of elected officials, staffers and a handful of reporters screeched in unison.

With her back to a giant glass wall separating the media area from the floor of the operations center, newly sworn in Rep. Luz Rivas — who had been deep in conversation with fellow new Rep. George Whitesides — exclaimed that she’d received the alert to her 818 number.

Staffers speculated whether the alert was related to a nascent fire in West Hills, until a reporter with a 310 area code number said she’d also received the alert.

The alerts linked to alertla.org, a site which had crashed shortly after the alert went out.

The city of Santa Monica responded on X, saying the notifications did not apply there.