Pastor Connie DeVaughn talked to 40 Eaton fire victims about that horrible night and not one mentioned paying attention to social media, where posts by county officials listed coming Santa Ana winds and red flag warnings in the hours leading up to the fire.

About half of these Altadenans — mostly members of her congregation, Altadena Baptist Church — lost their homes, and the rest removed smoke and ash from their damaged homes. However, they did own cell phones and many said they did not get the evacuation alert on their phones telling them to get out, as the Jan. 7 – Jan. 8 firestorm was burning through their town.

While a just-released report analyzing the alerts , notifications and evacuation policies during both the Eaton and Palisades fires praised Los Angeles County for the e

See Full Page