LA County’s emergency alert vendor accused of ‘digital redlining,’ sued by Eaton fire victim’s family

A wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday, Nov. 17, named Southern California Edison and Genasys, Inc., Los Angeles County’s emergency alert vendor, alleging Genasys’ defective design caused Altadena residents west of Lake Avenue to receive evacuation orders hours late, leading to the majority of deaths in the Eaton fire.

The tragedy was a case of “digital redlining,” said LA Fire Justice Attorney Mikal Watts during a morning news conference at Altadena Library, a special place for the Darden sisters, one of whom was one of the 19 people killed by the catastrophic Eaton fire, which ignited on Jan. 7.

“Somebody built an algorithm that had no basis in fact, in risk assessment, in science,” Watts said, behind him a large map displaying a solid yellow line demarking Lake Avenue — amplifying that