Public safety alert that urged Glendale residents to evacuate was sent in error

Los Angeles County residents awoke Saturday to a public safety alert advising Glendale residents to evacuate in what was later revealed to be an evacuation drill. 

The mass notification alert advised that Chevy Chase Canyon residents to safely evacuate to the parking lot of Glendale Community College. But the city of Glendale tweeted that it was conducting an evacuation exercise in the area. 

The city later confirmed that the message was an error and sent a follow up notification to residents to disregard the message. 

The city said in a statement, “The additional alerts sent to LA County residents is due to an error in the tech used to send out the second message.”

The evacuation drill, according to officials, is necessary to prepare residents in the area which has nearly 1,900 structures and 5,500 residents and is marked by steep hillsides.

The city said it was working with its partners to investigate the glitch in the messaging software.

In the interim, it stressed the importance of the drill, especially in light of recent events in Laguna Niguel, where the Coastal fire still burns.

“As we saw last week in Laguna Niguel, our fire environment in Southern California is prime for another potentially active fire season. Ensuring the community is prepared is key to keeping our residents safe,” said Lanzas, who apologized to anyone negatively affected by the earlier text alert.