Confusing Evacuation Alert Sent Across Phoenix

PHOENIX — Receiving a county evacuation alert while watching protests erupt throughout the country concerned many Valley residents Saturday night. From Queen Creek to Glendale, residents across the Phoenix metropolitan area took to social media to ask if the county evacuation alert they received was legitimate. Since from what they could see, if they weren't located near an active fire or protest, there was no visible or audible threat to their safety.

It appears that an evacuation alert that was issued for the Ocotillo Fire burning in Cave Creek experienced some technical issues. Cave Creek residents, in addition to seemingly random residents throughout the county received broadcast and text messages to evacuate, even if they actually didn't need to.

The National Weather Service released a Civil Emergency Message for Maricopa County Saturday afternoon. This type of message is made in coordination with the government to "warn the general public of a non-weather related time-critical emergency which threatens life or property." The message read as follows:

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE MARICOPA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY PHOENIX ARIZONA. THE TOWN OF CAVE CREEK HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM MESSAGE. ON MAY 30TH, 2020 AT 1:45 P.M. A WILDFIRE INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED WITHIN THE TOWN OF CAVE CREEK. EVERYONE IN THE FOLLOWING AREA SHOULD EVACUATE, SOUTH OF TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, TO NORTH OF CAVE CREEK ROAD, TO EAST OF NEW RIVER ROAD, TO WEST OF SCOPA TRAIL. IF YOU HAVE NO FORM OF TRANSPORTATION, OR ARE PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO EVACUATE ON YOUR OWN, CALL 9,1,1 IMMEDIATELY. EVACUEES REQUIRING ASSISTANCE SHOULD GO TO CACTUS SHADOWS HIGH SCHOOL. 5802 EAST DOVE VALLEY ROAD CAVE CREEK, ARIZONA 85331. OBEY ALL TRAFFIC SIGNS, ESPECIALLY BARRICADES. NON-OPERATING TRAFFIC SIGNALS SHOULD BE TREATED AS FOUR WAY STOPS. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL, USE ALTERNATE ROUTES EVACUEES WITH HOUSEHOLD PETS SHOULD TAKE LEASHES AND CARRIERS, IF POSSIBLE. STAY TUNED TO RADIO OR TV STATIONS FOR INFORMATION.

For residents residing in parts of the Valley not near Cave Creek, receiving the message was confusing.

According to a Forecaster at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Phoenix, forecasters were asked to "send out the Civil Emergency Message by MCDEM (Maricopa County Department of Emergency)." He continues to say that "these messages go to the entire county. It might seem excessive in this case, but that is the way those types of messages are sent."

However, every person in Maricopa County did not receive the alert. So it's still unclear as to why the alert message was scattered and broadcasted inconsistently. To further confuse the situation, the Maricopa County Communications Director Communications said that while broadcast evacuation alerts could not be geo-targeted, phone messages worked "as intended."

"The Emergency Alert System was filled with the correct information about the evacuation of the Cave Creek area. When it went live to the TV and radio stations (there is no way to geo-fence that type of alert) it sent an incomplete message. The use of the alert system was cancelled after that. Emergency Management will be working with the Weather Service after this incident to troubleshoot exactly what happened. Alerts sent to cell phones in the specific area worked as intended," statement from Fields Moseley, Maricopa County Communications Director

In a follow-up message, the National Weather Service forecaster said "we don't know the reason why this happened. We spent a lot of time trying to untangle this the other day and still don't know for sure. "