This lifesaving app is helping people track wildfires in California

By Nadeem Sarwar Published January 10, 2025

The Los Angeles area has been hit by devastating fires, destroying thousands of structures and forcing swathes of people to evacuate. Reports suggest multiple deaths and no immediate respite from the hazard.

In the midst of chaos, many have turned to an app to keep an eye on the situation as it unfolds and receive emergency alerts. The app in question is Watch Duty, which aggregates details from government agencies, news briefings, and camera feeds capturing the damage by fire.

Users can also sign up to get the latest notifications, though some users have suggested on public forums that one should turn them off as they can get a tad overwhelming during emergencies.

The app, which is available for Android and iOS platforms, also has a web dashboard that users can access to stay vigilant and keep track of the situation. The app pools together information from officials as well as volunteers, but to keep things in order, it labels them as such.

Watching the play by play on the Watch Duty app with all these fires going on around me. Thank you so much to all the Firefighters battling these fire since yesterday ! #PalasadesFire #EatonFire pic.twitter.com/rMkkzPtOv0

— N I K ✨ (@RemixNik) January 8, 2025

In the app, you get photo and video updates alongside details such as warning zones, evacuation orders, and shelter locations. At the moment, the app is available in 22 states, including the disaster-hit California.

Social media platforms such as Reddit, X, Facebook, and Instagram have amassed a healthy number of posts from residents and well-wishers asking their acquaintances to download the Watch Duty app.

As a result, the app has skyrocketed in popularity and climbed to the top of the App Store download charts, reports TechCrunch.

Notably, Watch Duty is run by a non-profit and operates on a very tight budget. It is run by the Santa Rosa-based nonprofit Sherwood Forestry Service.

Monitoring our LA home from across the country using Watch Duty.

So far it's safe, but the Sunset fire introduced a wave of anxiety.

This is heartbreaking for so many. 💔 pic.twitter.com/l79tDxm9mW

— Ryan Hoover (@rrhoover) January 9, 2025

The app is a brainchild of John Mills, who started it soon after moving into a wildfire-prone area and was inspired by his own experiences of struggling to find reliable and up-to-date information for such emergency scenarios.

“It started with me convincing them I was not a Silicon Valley tech bro. I was not here to make money on disaster, and I lived here too,” Mills was quoted as saying by The Los Angeles Times.

According to The Washington Post, the app has already clocked over 4 million downloads. The app is free to use, though there is also a subscription tier that offers additional information, such as flight tracking and firefighting details.

Interestingly, Watch Duty only has over a dozen employees but commands a pool of over 200 volunteers, which counts dispatchers and firefighters among them, both active-duty and retired.

Thank god for Watch Duty and social media because sending out a mass evacuation alert even to safe areas is peak incompetence

— The King of Burbank (@akingofburbank) January 10, 2025

Users can submit their own photos documenting the situation and keep an eye on the hazard perimeter, which is sourced from satellite imagery and official sources. You can access the web version of Watch Duty now.