No warning—It’s time to fix our broken public warning system: In the wake of California’s deadly wildfires, we need a 21st-century solution—before it’s too late
Abstract
This commentary examines the systemic failures of the United States public warning system, using the January 2025 Palisades and Eaton wildfires in California as case studies. Despite advance warnings, local governments were unable to deliver timely evacuation alerts, exposing the limits of a fragmented, locallydriven alert infrastructure. The authors argue that the mantra "all disasters are local" has become a pretext for federal disengagement, leaving vulnerable populations at risk. They call for a federally led, interoperable, realtime national warning system capable of reaching all communities-before the next disaster strikes.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Disaster Management and Resilience
Public Relations and Crisis Communication
Safety and Risk Management
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Journal of Emergency Management
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 118–120
- Publication date
- 1 March 2026
- Language
- EN