How Botched Alerts Turned This L.A. Neighborhood Into a Fiery Death Trap

When wildfires reached Altadena, evacuation alerts came hours too late for some people who lived on the west side of the community

By Marc Vartabedian, Katherine Sayre and Jennifer Calfas of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The county sent evacuation alerts to some areas too late and failed to use all of the public warning channels at its disposal, lapses that had grave consequences, seen in the cluster of deaths west of Lake Avenue."

"A Wall Street Journal review of mobile-phone emergency alerts, social-media posts, dispatch archives and fire-department documents found that a response system that was supposed to protect lives and property when danger approached failed."

"An emergency-alert system that can broadcast evacuation alerts and warnings to local radio and TV stations was never activated by the county for the fire, according to executives at those stations.

The county’s ReadyLACounty X account, used by the County Office of Emergency Management “for disaster response, recovery and preparedness,” didn’t post about the Eaton fire as it spread that night."

"Some of Los Angeles County’s firefighting equipment was stuck on the sidelines, even though the National Weather Service had issued a dangerous red-flag warning—its highest level. 

While the department did preposition units, including 15 engines and a handful of water carrying trucks, some crucial firefighting equipment was awaiting maintenance"

"roughly 28% of the department’s front-line large pumper engines were out of service"

"Half of the county fire department’s 10 helicopters, which can drop water, were out of service on the morning of Jan. 7"