Thursday, February 13, 2025

LA County Revamps Emergency Alert System After Wildfire Failures

Officials detail multi-layered notification approach while federal investigation of cellular providers continues

Los Angeles County officials outlined improvements to their emergency notification system Wednesday, describing a refined strategy that emphasizes targeted in-person warnings alongside enhanced mass alerts following widespread failures during recent wildfires.

“During the entire wildfire event, we were using our opt-in program successfully, and then it was being bolstered with the wireless alerts from the state,” said Kevin McGowan, Director of the County’s Office of Emergency Management.

The County resolved internal alert system issues through partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), though McGowan acknowledged ongoing concerns about service providers.

“I can’t guarantee that other organizations infrastructure, like our cell service providers have completely corrected their issues. That’s their responsibility,” he said.

Representatives Mike Garcia and Congressman Whiteside have requested a federal investigation into major carriers’ performance, according to County officials, since telecommunications oversight occurs at the federal level.

As a major rain storm approaches, Sheriff Robert Luna reported that deputies had already conducted in-person notifications over the previous 24 hours to potentially affected homes in the Altadena and Malibu Lost Hills areas.

“We’re being very surgical about it as opposed to large areas that we don’t believe at this point need to be evacuated,” Luna said.

The revamped evacuation notification strategy includes:

• Targeted in-person notifications for specific at-risk areas
• Mass notifications for larger impacted regions
• An opt-in program allowing alerts down to individual addresses
• Coordination with city jurisdictions’ own alert systems

“Those can be very much more targeted. We can get down to an individual address level if you sign up for that notification system,” McGowan said, encouraging residents to register at alert.la.org.

Multiple cities, including Pasadena and Sierra Madre, maintain their own emergency notification systems.

Residents may sign up for the Pasadena Local Emergency Alert System, called PLEAS, by registering here:

https://www.cityofpasadena.net/fire/pleas/

“LA County Office of Emergency Management and LA County as a government organization aren’t the only emergency notification system within our county,” McGowan explained, urging residents to also register for their local city alerts.

The County has commissioned both internal and external reviews of the alert system failures, working with a contractor on a third-party assessment. The first report is due within 90 days as directed by the Board of Supervisors.

Residents can report storm-related issues 24 hours a day to the Public Works Dispatch Center at 1-800-675-HELP.