No idea. I think we have the capability because Amber alerts do that (absolutely ridiculous to send alerts to the entire population in case they happen to see one child, IMO; just put it on TV) but it seems to not be used. It's still unclear exactly what happened with the Paradise system, but apparently it was opt-in, largely didn't even work, and whoever could have sent an Amber alert chose not to.
I believe there was also concern about alerting everyone at once causing the road to be so clogged that no one could get out, but that is a problem that should have been considered earlier. (There was essentially only one road out.) In any case the entire town burned to the ground so everyone ended up either fleeing or dying, or fleeing too late because they only knew what was going on when a neighbor banged on their door.
Mariposa also has an opt-in system with the theoretical capability of alerting everyone regardless, but in practice sheriffs come round and bang on your door. This is a system that only works because we haven't had anything like the Paradise fire - my parents live at the end of a dirt road it takes at least five minutes to drive up or down.
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Date: 2018-11-14 09:45 pm (UTC)I believe there was also concern about alerting everyone at once causing the road to be so clogged that no one could get out, but that is a problem that should have been considered earlier. (There was essentially only one road out.) In any case the entire town burned to the ground so everyone ended up either fleeing or dying, or fleeing too late because they only knew what was going on when a neighbor banged on their door.
Mariposa also has an opt-in system with the theoretical capability of alerting everyone regardless, but in practice sheriffs come round and bang on your door. This is a system that only works because we haven't had anything like the Paradise fire - my parents live at the end of a dirt road it takes at least five minutes to drive up or down.