IPhone Feature Sends False Alarm For Canoeist On Fire In Minnesota

On August 27, 2025 a search and rescue effort began on Seagull Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) after a 911 text went out stating that a person was on fire. First responders did not find any fires, any people on fire or anyone needing rescue. It was later proven a false alarm, with the mysterious text sent using new iPhone satellite technology.

According to The Ely Echo, dispatch was able to contact the wife of the owner of the iPhone from which the text had originated, who was later able to confirm that the owner of the iPhone was alive and well and not experiencing an emergency. Additionally, it was confirmed that the alert was not only accidentally sent but sent without the owner’s knowledge.

Summer 2025 saw multiple instances of search and rescue efforts triggered by false alarm “someone is on fire” texts

Apple’s emergency SOS new satellite technology enables users to send text messages using passing satellites even when out of range of cell service. The satellite messaging technology is available on iPhone 14 or newer.

These alerts can be triggered by repeatedly and quickly pressing the side button on the iPhone five times, pressing and holding both the side button and volume buttons of the iPhone simultaneously and/or through the iPhone crash detection feature.

The Ely Echo also reported that this instance is not only not the first false alarm sent from an iPhone, but the August false alarm is not even the first instance of an SOS text message reporting a person on fire in the BWCAW. On Brule Lake in June 2025 a similar text prompting a search effort went out. The text alert in both instances read “someone is on fire”.

Mystery false alarm SOS texts could be due to an Apple glitch

Meanwhile on August 1, 2025 in British Columbia a similar satellite SOS text message went out reading “THERE IS A FIRE, SOMEONE IS ON FIRE,” according to The Williams Lake Tribune. Six volunteers, a helicopter winch team and flight crew were dispatched. The iPhone provided GPS coordinates showing the device out in the mountains and moving toward the trailhead while the team attempted to contact the iPhone’s owner.

Shortly thereafter, the command team was notified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that the owner of the iPhone had reported the messages from the search team as potential spam or a scam and was at home on the couch, where they had received the messages. It was later determined that earlier in the day while out hiking the hiker’s phone battery had died around the time they had been walking near an area previously burned by wildfire. Beyond these details, it remains unclear precisely how the SOS text was triggered.

In July 2025 The Colorado Sun reported at least ten Colorado 911 dispatch centers received emergency texts sent from iPhones claiming people were on fire, trapped or lost. All ten of these messages were false alarms and all ten of the messages were sent using the iPhone’s satellite texting feature.

“I spoke with our division chief and his opinion is that it’s some glitch in the Apple system,” Boulder County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Vinnie Montez told The Colorado Sun.

In response to the most recent instance of the person-on-fire text sent in the BWCAW, Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen told Northern News Now that it often takes many hours for rescuers to go out and investigate a situation, and with a message like that it’s often assumed the situation is quite serious. Most of the search and rescue teams in Cook County are volunteer, meaning that a false alarm such as this takes them away from their jobs and families.

Pilot Honored In Rescue Of Two Canoeists (Video)

Map of the BWCAW with Seagull Lake highlighted. Feature Image: Northern News Now | YouTube