Genasys is a leading provider of emergency alert software for the tempting tendency of California County, looking for a seamless way to send evacuation orders with a click of a button.
Riverside, Inyo and Monterey counties attracted here with higher prices and higher features, turning to Genasys on software that has been tested, debugging and trained by staff for about a year.
Los Angeles County, on the other hand, waited three weeks before deploying Genasys in early December. A month later, the system was finally tested as devastating wildfires broke out across the county on January 7.
The rapid turnover raises questions about how much time county officials allocate to debug software and train employees with new technologies.
Fault Evacuation order On January 9, the buzzing nerves in Los Angeles County were Due to error In the second edition (a new iteration of Genasys software), the company has told customers. The wrong alarm continues to sound the next day, sending evacuation orders to people away from any danger.
Emergency officials also failed for hours on the night of the fire, unable to issue evacuation warnings to residents in western Altadna, where all 17 Eaton fires died.
According to county alert metadata, only one person in the county’s emergency management office sent alerts to the three fires (Palisade, Eaton and Hurst). According to the metadata comment, the official sent all alerts between January 7 and 7 at 7 a.m., and he never sent county alerts in an emergency using Genasys’ alert software.
In a chaotic nighttime fire powered by extreme wind, it is unclear whether officials failed to order West Altadena’s alarm, or whether Genasys or officials’ unfamiliar failures with the new system could work. The county’s stumbled around the evacuation alarm was two federal Hexian investigation.
County Emergency Management Office declined to answer questions about the software’s transition, called Genasys alarmcited investigation. but Statement on January 10 County officials said the company has assured them that it added “software protections.” The county is temporarily Stopped Use this software after an unexpected county-wide alert.
“We can’t choose the timing of an emergency that attacks Los Angeles County, but we can and can continually work to ensure we use the latest technology.” New York State added that the best practice the county follows is to maintain the ability before switching Overlapping system for large-scale notifications”.
The Emergency Management Office changed from its former emergency alert system (Onsolve codered) to fall Genasys, which, under the county’s agreement with Genasys, said the software cost $321,000.
The software can be customized for counties, and officials in other jurisdictions say they have spent some time training staff and exercising issues. The first version of Genasys’ alert software “had a lot of bugs in it” when officials first acquired officials in late 2022, said Kelsey Scanlon, head of the Monterey County Department of Emergency Management.
Most failures are secondary – not one. During the testing period, officials were blocked from sending emergency alerts. Genasys determined it was a technical malfunction and was fixed within a few days, said Tracy Molfino, the county’s emergency services manager.
“Luckily, our testing phase was long,” he said. “This issue has not surfaced again yet – but it’s a big deal and it can’t send that alert.”
After obtaining the software in 2021, Riverside County used the old system for about a year to send real alerts through the old system, and then simulate sending alerts through the Genasys platform.
“We kept doing this until our team was happy with the Genasys process before we actually sent any real alerts with Genasys,” said Shane Reichardt, spokesman for the county’s Department of Emergency Management.
William TurnerThe Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security chief said this training is crucial when switching the alarm system.
“You have to use it very carefully because you basically give the system the key to remind millions of people,” he said. “And if you’re not trained or have never practiced before, then the possibility of error is that if you’re not trained or have never practiced before, then It exists.”
Los Angeles County also pushed for a longer transition period in 2017 Onsolveand only recently provided the software for emergency alerts. Jeff Reeb, director of the county’s emergency management office at the time County records.
This time, as county officials moved from Code Codeed to Genasys, they settled on a much shorter overlap.
When a county wants to test its emergency alert system without unnecessary alert residents, they can send alerts to the test server. According to the test alert database, Los Angeles County issued its first Genasys test alert on November 18. Onsolve said the contract with the county ended for a week and a half.
It is not clear why the county has not chosen a longer transition period this time. The county uses different Genasys software to evacuate plans Since 2022And emergency alert experts say emergency officials may be familiar with the company’s products and can switch faster.
The system was tested for its first real-world test on December 9 during the Franklin Fire. Based on an analysis of archived alerts, the county successfully issued several evacuation orders to Malibu using Genasys.
Then, on January 7, hurricane storm spread embers across the area, and Los Angeles County officials had to send dozens of evacuation alerts related to the Palisades and Eaton fires. The vast majority of people go out as planned with two huge hits: false alarms across the county, lacking alarms to the Altadena community on the west side of Lake Avenue. Many in these communities are escalating in the flames.
A protocol shows that the county has previously used Genasys to create evacuation zones for emergency alerts. Public to the public Company hosted map.
That split line proved to be problematic during the Eaton fire. The area east of Lake Avenue was given multiple evacuation orders when the fire spread to the area. The area in the western part of the lake did not receive evacuation orders until 3:30 am
Inyo County also used Genasys to create evacuation areas, and he said officials had to adjust some of the dividing lines that were the main streets.
“Genasys’ algorithm is blocked, so one side of the street is an area and the other side is the other side,” said Mikaela Torres, emergency manager at Inyo County. “We’re like, we’re never going to evacuate the northern half of the street.” and not evacuate from the south side.”
County officials told reporters that they coordinated decisions on when and where to send evacuation alerts, with the county emergency management office, the sheriff’s department and the county fire department. The county has hired an external consulting company McChrystal Groupreview the county’s evacuation policy and emergency alert notification system.
Kevin McGowan, head of the Los Angeles County Emergency Management Office, declined to answer questions about how much training county officials have received on the new alert system because he said it would be part of the review, but stressed: Everyone uses it and everyone is trained. “The alert metadata shows that the Emergency Management Office has four people sending alerts throughout the wildfire – three emergency management coordinators and one supervisor.
Genasys CEO Richard Danforth has Touting the role of the company In evacuation, it is a historical success.
He said business continues to flourish.
“Throughout the event, Genasys experienced unprecedented inbound queries on our software and hardware solutions, and we expect to convert to new bookings in the coming months.” statement.
Grace Toohey, an era worker, contributed to the report.
