As wildfires rage for the third consecutive day through parts of Los Angeles, now including the Hollywood Hills, several neighborhoods have been forced to evacuate for safety purposes. But on Thursday afternoon, a wildfire evacuation alert was mistakenly sent to the smartphone of every resident in Los Angeles County, a region with more than 9 million people.
“An evacuation order for residents near the Kenneth Fire currently burning in West Hills was mistakenly issued Countywide,” wrote LA County’s official account in a post on X. “This alert was only intended for residents of Calabasas and Agoura Hills.”
Several Los Angeles residents posted on social media that they received the push notification right around 4pm PT, despite being in areas that were quite far from any active fire. The emergency alert interrupted a live broadcast on Fox LA, confusing the meteorologist on air.
The smartphone push notification was issued countywide “due to a technical error,” according to LA county supervisor Janice Hahn, noting in a post on X that a correction will be sent shortly.
Smartphone makers allow government officials to send emergency push notifications to users based on their location, a feature that’s particularly important for California residents when wildfires are occurring. However, errors like this can unnecessarily cause panic in an already stressful situation.