'Watch Duty' App Emerges as Best Tool to Track Los Angeles Fires

09 Jan 2025, 16:02 by Lucas Nolan · Breitbart

As devastating wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles County, fire-tracking app Watch Duty has added 600,000 users in the last 24 hours seeking real-time updates and critical information. The app, run by a nonprofit, relies on hundreds of volunteers including active and retired firefighters to provide accurate and timely information.

The LA Times reports that in the wake of the catastrophic fires wreaking havoc across Los Angeles County, the Watch Duty app, a fire-tracking platform run by the nonprofit Sherwood Forestry Service, has seen an unprecedented surge in users. According to CEO John Mills, the app has gained 600,000 new users in the last 24 hours alone, adding to its existing 7.2 million yearly active users at the end of 2024.

Watch Duty, launched in 2021, provides users with a comprehensive and user-friendly interface that combines publicly available maps of fire incidents, evacuation orders, and warning zones with shelter locations, National Weather Service alerts, and real-time text, photo, and video updates. The app allows users to receive or turn off notifications about specific incidents, making it a valuable resource for those in affected areas.

Mills, who spent his career in Silicon Valley before moving to Sonoma County in 2020, was inspired to create Watch Duty after experiencing the lack of alerts and warnings during the 2020 Walbridge Fire. He envisioned an app that would act as a “megaphone” to disseminate critical information to communities affected by fires. The app’s popularity quickly grew, with Watch Duty alerts about the evacuation of schools and hospitals during the Cache fire helping it reach 50,000 users in its first week.

The app’s success can be attributed to its team of 15 employees and roughly 200 volunteers, including active and retired firefighters and dispatchers. The Watch Duty team monitors information about fires through various means, such as radio scanners, wildlife cameras, satellites, and official announcements from law enforcement and fire services. If the team perceives a threat to life or property, they notify affected members of the public through the app.

Watch Duty is funded through a combination of membership dues, donations, and grants, having raised a total of $3 million to date. The app remains free to use, with additional features available through memberships starting at $24.99. Mills emphasizes that Watch Duty does not intend to sell users’ personal information to third parties.

As the app continues to grow, Watch Duty plans to expand the types of disasters it monitors, starting with floods in the coming months. The team also hopes to explore the use of other types of data, such as river gauges, tsunami buoys, and earthquakes, to further enhance its platform.

Mills remains committed to his home in the woods and to the fight against natural disasters, stating, “This has become a way of life for us, and how we fight fire and survive through natural disasters. I’m not leaving. I had a choice — I could fight or I could run, and five years later, I’m still enjoying the fight.”