Company behind incorrect evacuation alerts in Los Angeles says it has added new safeguards
By David Schechter, Laura Geller, Kerry Breen
The company behind Los Angeles' emergency alert technology said it has added safeguards to prevent further inaccurate wildfire evacuation alerts from being sent to residents amid deadly, devastating wildfires .
The first erroneous alert was sent on Thursday. It was meant for people near the Kenneth Fire, but was instead sent to all 10 million residents of Los Angeles County , sparking panic. Some residents received a follow-up message telling them to "disregard" the inaccurate alert. Other erroneous alerts telling people to evacuate when they weren't in fire zones were reported later Thursday and on Friday. City officials said they were investigating the issue and are determined to get to the bottom of it.
Genasys, the company that provides the alert technology to the county, said it has "not been able to replicate this error." The company also said it has "added safeguards into the software to ensure it doesn't happen again."
