Wildfires continue to illuminate holes in California's emergency alert messaging
over 36 hours between Tuesday and Wednesday last week, expanding from three burns across 12,000 acres to more than a half-dozen fires scorching more than 120,000 acres, some parts of the Bay Area were knocked back on their heels.
And then there is Sonoma County, where, unlike three years ago when the previous emergency management director failed to alert some residents of a fire at all, the department’s current leader is concerned with having alerted too many. Indeed, on the Vacaville Police Department Facebook page, the department told residents at 10:40 p.m. Aug. 18 that “there is currently no danger or evacuation orders to the residents of Vacaville. If for some reason this changes, we will work nonstop to notify our community via social media, phone or in person.”
At one point, Scarrott tried a home on the edge of the wildland that would be among the fire’s first potential victims. No one answered the front door, but he had a feeling someone was there, so he opened the front door — this was the kind of neighborhood where people don’t lock their doors at night, he said.
On the other side of the fire, Napa and Sonoma counties were dealing with kinks in their emergency software. “It’s extremely helpful where you may not get tourists signed up for your local [program],” said Henry Wofford, Napa County sheriff’s spokesman. “Our whole purpose is to get it in their hands on their cellphones, in case they’re not at home, in case they’re in their backyard watering their lawns.”
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