Emergency alerts for residents of west Altadena came too late, leading to a cluster of fatalities in the area as the wildfire raged on, according to an analysis from the Wall Street Journal.
The Eaton fire, which began January 7, 2025, burned 14,021 acres as strong winds whipped the blaze across the region. According to CalFire, 1,074 structures were damaged and 9,413 were destroyed from the Eaton fire alone. Nine firefighters were injured, and 17 individuals lost their lives. But now, some believe a mass alert failure could have contributed to the 17 fatalities in the area, as some — particularly those in west Altadena — did not receive timely emergency alerts, resulting in what the WSJ described as a “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,” the outlet reported, noting that many residents in west Altadena went to bed that night not realizing how dire the situation was right outside their door.
Per WSJ:
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.
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The Los Angeles County Coordinated Joint Information Center said in a statement it couldn’t immediately comment “on all factors leading to the tragic loss of life.” The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently approved a third-party review of emergency-notification systems and evacuation procedures used during the fires.
As Breitbart News reported, Altadena and surrounding areas are now in the rebuilding process after the devastation and loss:
For those who were lucky enough to see their homes or business survive, the months ahead will be some of the most difficult of their lives as they deal with environmental hazards from the cleanup effort as well as smoke damage to their properties. Leo Bulgarini, owner of Altadena’s beloved Bulgarini Gelato, informed me that his business will need extensive restoration in order to open for business again after the fire devastated his community. During my visit, he was actively disposing of thousands of dollars worth of Italian food and gelato that had sustained smoke damage and had been left to rot for several days due to no refrigeration from the power outage.
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At least 29 individuals lost their lives in the wildfires that quickly spread throughout the region.
Southern California Edison recently admitted that its equipment likely sparked one of the fires — the Hurst fire — last month, but investigations remain underway.