Alert software firm is sued over Altadena death

“My sister was studiously following the evacuation orders the night of the Eaton Fire. The truth is that if these companies had done what they were supposed to do, Stacey would be alive today.”

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A NEIGHBORHOOD west of Lake Avenue in Altadena, shown two weeks after the Eaton fire and before properties were cleaned up.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times)

On Jan. 7, Los Angeles emergency officials and fire responders were quickly overwhelmed when extreme red flag conditions ignited a spate of devastating fires across the region, from the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains to the San Gabriel mountains. When flames erupted near Eaton Canyon around 6:30 pm, erratic hurricane-force winds carried red-hot embers for miles, igniting countless small fires that ultimately destroyed thousands of homes. Nineteen people in Altadena died.

In the fire's aftermath, The Times reported that residents of west Altadena did not get electronic evacuation orders until hours after the fire had started and engulfed the area. All but one of the 19 deaths from the Eaton fire occurred west of Lake Avenue, where residents did not receive evacuation warnings until around 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 8, at least six hours after their neighbors on the other side of Lake Avenue had begun to get alerts.