New fire alert app to minimize evacuations

During the October 2003 wildfires, most of the fatalities were citizens who were trying to evacuate but were caught in traffic on congested roads. The October 2007 Rice Fire, which forced the evacuation of most of Fallbrook, also closed Interstate 15, so Fallbrook residents had to evacuate through Camp Pendleton and had long wait times to evacuate.

A new product from a San Diego company called Genasys will assess risk and road conditions at neighborhood levels and minimize the need for citizens to evacuate.

“We can more precisely evacuate people,” said North County Fire Protection District Pub...