OEM

Once a decision is made to evacuate an area, Luna said, there’s a two-layered process: OEM sends out the electronic alert and deputies in the field are alerted to begin making sure the order is carried out.

Then, it reports that back to a representative from the OEM, either in-person or over dispatch, and the OEM sends out any wireless alert and updates the county’s online notification system, operated by Genasys.

From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Jan. 8, evacuation warnings and orders from the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, or OEM, went out several times per hour, largely covering areas that would not end up burning.

From inside the back of a firetruck, Herrera said he worked with three other officials — one from OEM, one focused on communications technology and another county firefighter acting as an incident commander — to evaluate radio traffic and 911 calls to help determine where to send resources and evacuation alerts.

At the Rose Bowl, incident command consisted of three SUVs parked side by side: county fire, sheriff and OEM, according to Miller.