Anchorage Daily News

A training exercise at the Alaska State Troopers dispatch center in Fairbanks went awry Thursday afternoon when a trainee mistakenly sent out a live emergency message to 475 phone numbers.

The warning message to residents went out at about 4 p.m. while dispatchers were trying out a new emergency notification system, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said.

"In this case it was simply Alaska State Troopers saying not to inhale deeply," she said. "It was just a training exercise, so it was only half a message."

The system allows dispatchers to type a warning and send an automated message to select areas in the Fairbanks North Star Borough in case of disasters such as floods, earthquakes or explosions. The unnamed dispatcher was inadvertently working in the live system instead of in the training mode, Ipsen said.

The system speed-dialed the phone numbers in the selected areas -- Eielson, Salcha and North Pole. Though that area actually had 1,700 phone numbers, dispatchers caught the mistake and stopped the program after it had gotten to 475, Ipsen said.

Troopers notified other agencies that the message had been sent in error. But at least they now know the system works, Ipsen said.

Find reporter James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin

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