| "Communications are a nightmare!" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Kort Waddell, freelance photographer for NBC Network News captured unthinkable images while on assignment January 8, 2025, in Altadena, CA. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CA: “Haphazardous.” That’s how some LA area residents describe efforts by safety officials to communicate with them ahead of the firestorm that descended on their communities. “People were calling into the local AM/FM radio stations in panic... in their cars, stranded,” observes news photographer Kort Waddell who was on the ground in LA from the beginning. “People are being told one thing, then another. Emergency cell phone alerts are going rogue. There are alerts that no one seems to be controlling....” Some text alerts that went out to millions of people advised them to evacuate immediately. A few minutes later, the alerts were retracted. Safety officials apologized. All communication efforts, thankfully, have not been so chaotic. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Calabasas, California's, emergency information radio antenna (at left) is positioned on a hilltop that overlooks the community. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The City of Calabasas northwest of Los Angeles was threatened by two fires simultaneously last week. Emergency managers warned residents to evacuate ahead of the approaching Palisades Fire that continues to burn at this writing. The City leveraged multiple methods of communication: its newly upgraded Emergency Information Radio Station on 1630 kHz advised homeowners about power shutoffs, the locations of emergency caches and how to “know their zone” – signaling them when to leave and by what route. Even before the fires, the radio station broadcast messages to educate residents how to harden their homes against fires and how to pack a ”go bag” and be ready if their zone was called. The City also utilized Wireless Electronic Alerts (WEA) and Reverse 911 to reach out about evacuations, according to Mike Dyer, Calabasas Emergency Manager. Under Dyer's direction, six Emergency Information Radio Stations were installed in nearby Santa Barbara County in 2021 and 2022 in preparation for a future wildfire or earthquake emergency. See "Communities Aim to be 'Radio Ready' before the Next Round." Emergency Information Stations' unique appeal for emergency management resides in their ability to operate without third-party carriers (cellular, network, telco). Like the cans-and-string analogy, each safety agency controls the entire communication chain between the agency and the public recipient. Backed up by batteries and generators, they are also inherently resilient when the power grid is disrupted. Read more. Stations licensed in Southern California in recent years are listed below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| A Sad Sunrise in Pacific Palisades | Fire Photos Courtesy of Kort Waddell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern California Communities in and near Los Angeles with licensed Emergency Information Radio Stations (*) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| (*) Not every radio station listed may be in operation at this time. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PO Box 51, Zeeland, Michigan, USA, 49464-0051, Phone 616.772.2300, Email
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