Los Angeles County supervisors are looking into the emergency alert system after residents in one area of the Eaton Fire were not alerted until several hours after the blaze had started.  Seventeen deaths were reported in the Eaton Fire west of Lake Avenue, a neighborhood that did not receive any kind of electronic alert until nine hours after the deadly fire started. An investigation as to why that happened is underway.  Wildfires Jan 9 Entire LA County receives evacuation alert by mistake California Wildfires Jan 10 Second LA County evacuation alert sent in error to phones in overnight hours A map from the Public Broadcasting System showed the first alert that went out on Jan. 7 at 6:48 p.m. in the east side of Altadena, just 30 minutes after the Eaton Fire started.  The map showed that the area in western Altadena received an alert at 3:25 a.m. The neighborhoods in between did not receive an evacuation warning.  The 17 deaths connected to the Eaton Fire were in the west side of Altadena, the neighborhoods that did not receive an evacuation warning until the middle of the night on Jan. 8. The fire started in the foothills in a Santa Ana windstorm that firefighters have described as among the worst they’ve ever seen. “I know that on the west side, the older part of Altadena, it’s far more concentrated, a lot of homes. We need to find out what happened, but I do know the fire was traveling fast,” LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said after a Wednesday morning news conference. “I’ve talked to a firefighter who said he saw chunks of wood… on fire literally going up and flying miles. This was like nothing we’ve every seen.” Barger said the county CEO is putting together a database for family members to indicate whether a resident is bed-ridden or non-ambulatory. “I don’t know if even a notification would’ve changed the outcome in that situation,” Barger said. “And, that’s heartbreaking, but I’m not going to come to a pre-conclusion, especially when I talked to deputies on the ground that night and the firefighters. There were those who did know to evacuate, but chose not to evacuate.” Officials have not determined how the fire started. During the news conference, Barger said she met with Altadena residents and council members Tuesday night to discuss the immediate response. She introduced a motion to retain a consultant to review evacuation policies and emergency alert notification systems for all major disasters. The county also will complete and after-action report. “Now, the victims of this disaster deserve our transparency and accountability,” Barger said. There was also confusion among Southern California residents when evacuation alerts were sent in error to all of Los Angeles County.  A “correction” alert was sent a few minutes later, explaining that the previous alert was specifically for a fire in the West Hills area, and not for all of LA County. In an interview with NBC4, Kevin McGowan, the director of LA County’s Office of Emergency Management, apologized and explained what went wrong. The correct zones for the evacuation warning was communicated through the proper channels, McGowan said, but the notification was sent to the entire county due to system error. “We issued those notifications through a system. The correct zones were initiated, however, there was an error in the system that then sent the emergency alert to the entire county,” McGowan said. McGowan’s office realized the mistake immediately, and he said they sent out another message clarifying the evacuation warning was only for those near the Kenneth fire as soon as possible. LA County supervisor Kathryn Barger said she also received an evacuation alert days after the fire when repopulation efforts were happening. Barger said the board is committed to accountability and transparency and is expecting the results of the review within 90 days.