Millcreek residents who grabbed their phones Sunday afternoon and saw "EVACUATE NOW" on their screens can stand down. The alert was a mistake.

At approximately 4:50 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, a glitch in Summit County's emergency alert system sent evacuation orders to smartphones across northern Utah, including Salt Lake County and Millcreek. The message was meant only for residents near the Rocky Canyon Fire in Morgan and Summit counties.

"There was a glitch in the system when Summit County sent out their alert for Henefer," Morgan County officials wrote in a Facebook post, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.

Salt Lake County Emergency Management confirmed no Salt Lake County residents needed to evacuate and posted a public clarification, according to Fox 13.

What went wrong

The error originated in IPAWS, the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System that pushes wireless emergency alerts to cell phones. When Summit County dispatched a legitimate evacuation notice for the town of Henefer, the system broadcast it far beyond the intended zone. Emergency management agencies in at least six counties, including Wasatch, Uintah, Utah and Salt Lake, posted corrections after the erroneous notifications went out.

"This was a system error," fire officials said at a community meeting Sunday evening, apologizing on behalf of Summit County for any confusion or distress, according to TownLift.

The real fire

The Rocky Canyon Fire that triggered the legitimate alert is no small event. The blaze started Friday, Aug. 7, and exploded from 2,800 acres Sunday morning to more than 13,000 acres by Sunday evening, driven by 40 mph winds. It remained at 0% containment as of Sunday night, according to KSL. Its cause is under investigation.

Legitimate evacuation orders apply only to specific areas in Morgan and Summit counties: residents from Whites Crossing to East Canyon Dam and from Hog Back Summit to West Henefer Road. The town of Henefer was placed in "Set" status, meaning residents should be packed and ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Millcreek is not under any evacuation order.

What Millcreek residents should do

Officials said the fastest way to get verified wildfire information is through wireless emergency alerts and urged residents to keep phones on with emergency alerts enabled in notification settings. Updated information on the Rocky Canyon Fire is available at summitcounty.info/emergency.

The false alarm lands during what we reported July 29 is a record wildfire season in Utah, with fire restrictions already in place on Forest Service lands including Millcreek Canyon. Salt Lake County Emergency Management and the Unified Fire Authority held a Wildland Fire Town Hall on June 11 at the UFA Emergency Operations Center specifically to help local residents prepare evacuation plans.

Millcreek resident Julie Naeth told ABC4 on Aug. 3, after a separate grass fire near I-80 and I-215, that there is always concern fire could reach the neighborhood. Sunday's false alert underscored why.

No official timeline has been announced for investigating the IPAWS glitch or implementing system fixes.