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Fake Facebook post causes emergency officials concern

Announcement of a fake tornado drill posted Monday on a Facebook page led to some confusion among emergency officials.

The announcement for the drill, which was supposed to happen Wednesday in Butler County, appeared on a Facebook page titled Butler County, PA 911 Notifications. But the website is not affiliated with Butler County Emergency Services.

Steve Bicehouse, county emergency services director, said he heard about the drill through media reports. The department’s official page is titled Butler County PA Emergency Services, and it posts alerts from agencies such as the National Weather Service and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Bicehouse said he has been aware of the other site for a while.

“I’ve known about it for years,” Bicehouse said, saying the only thing he really knows about it is that it is run by a 17-year-old boy.

The fake post was removed later on Monday. Bicehouse said he did not contact the site to remove the post.

The owner could not be reached for comment.

He said that the National Weather Service also had been contacted about the drill and had concerns about it as well.

“It wasn’t just us,” Bicehouse said.

Bicehouse noted that a tornado drill done during winter would not cause too much disruption. However, a tornado drill done during tornado season, which is taking place now, and done two days after a tornado touched down in Cranberry Township could cause massive disruption or panic.

Matthew Kramar with the Nation Weather Service in Pittsburgh said, that drills are done in cooperation with the weather service and the county emergency services department.

“Neither of which were done here,” Kramar said about the fake post.

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