Jan 14, 2025 20:00:00

What is the free fire tracking app 'Watch Duty' that became a vital lifeline during the Los Angeles wildfires?

Watch Duty is a free app that allows you to track various information such as fire outbreaks, evacuation advisory areas, air quality index, and wind direction. This app became a hot topic because it was relied on not only by local residents but also by firefighters working to put out the firesin Los Angeles , where the total damage caused by the fires exceeded 20 trillion yen. Technology media The Verge summarizes how Watch Duty became an important lifeline for the citizens of Los Angeles.

How Watch Duty became crucial for tracking the Los Angeles wildfires - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/11/24340913/watch-duty-wildfire-tracking-app-los-angeles-nonprofit

LA residents find a lifeline in this free wildfire-tracking app - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/9/24339799/watch-duty-wildfire-tracking-app-la-wildfires

The wildfire that broke out in Los Angeles, California, USA on January 7, 2025 local time has spread to the area as of the time of writing, and only 14% of the fire in the Palisades district, the most severely damaged area, has been extinguished . Victims of the Los Angeles wildfire are calling on social media to download a fire information tracking app called 'Watch Duty.'

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Watch Duty is a fire information tracking app that was released in 2021 and is available in 22 states in the United States at the time of writing. Areas where fires are occurring are shown with a flame icon on a map, and it also provides evacuation alerts and the ability to post text, photos, videos, and more in real time.

Users can also access information about evacuation shelters, evacuation routes, firefighting activities, and more, and can zoom in on the map to see the latest updates for a specific location. The Verge describes Watch Duty as 'a one-stop service for all the information you need in a fire emergency.'

Watch Duty is run by about 200 volunteers, many of whom are current or retired firefighters, dispatchers , and ambulance personnel. The sources of information include government reports, volunteer reports, and information about wildfires from emergency notification systems, radio scanners, wildlife cameras, satellites, and official announcements from police and fire departments. They also vet and monitor the authenticity of the information.

Watch Duty | How It Works - YouTube

Watch Duty is unique in the tech industry in that it doesn't care about user engagement, time spent on the app, or advertising revenue. The nonprofit organization that runs Watch Duty only cares about the accuracy of the information it provides and the speed at which the service can provide it. Watch Duty has been a big hit with over 1.5 million downloads in the past few days, and has risen to the top of the mobile app stores offered by Apple and Google.

The Verge cites 'simplicity' as one of the great things about Watch Duty. Watch Duty does not scrape user data, display ads, require logins, or track user information. The Verge praises Watch Duty's simplicity, saying, 'Watch Duty's simple tech stack and UI have likely helped save countless lives.'

Watch Duty is free to use, but will accept tax-deductible donations to help donors access the service, which includes a real-time firefighting flight tracking system that allows them to monitor the flight paths of firefighting aircraft, and notifications for changes to ground conditions in four or more counties.

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https://www.watchduty.org/donate

Watch Duty has plans to expand its coverage across the U.S. and abroad, and to handle emergency alerts other than wildfires. As a result, The Verge pointed out that 'Watch Duty could eventually replace some of the slow and unreliable local alert systems for hundreds of people.'

The idea for Watch Duty was born when co-founder John Mills felt that he had no information sources to protect himself when he was affected by the wildfires in Walbridge in 2020. Mills enlisted the help of David Merritt, co-founder and CTO of Watch Duty, to develop an app to track fire information.

'Watch Duty was born from John's idea, an idea that he told me about four years ago,' Merritt said. 'We built the app in 60 days and are run entirely by volunteers, with no full-time staff. For many of the engineers who helped us, Watch Duty was a side project, so we needed to keep it as simple as possible.'

Fire information in fire-prone areas is fragmented, and official information from fire departments and counties is spread across platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). Another problem is that social media platforms are increasingly charging for automated access to warning services. Governments also use a variety of warning systems, which can lead to problems with people being unable to quickly access the information they need when a potentially life-threatening wildfire occurs.

'We see Watch Duty as a public service - timely, relevant information to keep people safe in emergencies, and it's something everyone should have,' Merritt said. 'Right now, this kind of emergency information is very fragmented. Even the best-intentioned agencies are limited by bureaucracy and contracts. We partner with government agencies that are focused on firefighting.' He pointed out that even government information about wildfires is fragmented.

Merritt also cited the 'immediacy of information' as a difference between Watch Duty and other services. Specifically, he said, 'Some push notification and text message delivery systems used by government agencies have a delay of about 15 minutes, which is not good for firefighting. Watch Duty aims to send push notifications within one minute. Currently, 1.5 million people in Los Angeles receive push notifications through the app. That's a huge number of messages to send in 60 seconds. Generally, people receive notifications at roughly the same time.'

Merritt said that Watch Duty relies on a number of corporate partners to build the service, which is built on a combination of platforms including Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Firebase, Fastly and Heroku. Watch Duty also uses AI only for alerts and internal routing of emails.

In addition, most of the latest wildfire information that Watch Duty pushes is posted by volunteers, and it seems that who covers which areas is coordinated on Slack. Merritt explains the information provided by Watch Duty, 'All information is vetted with an emphasis on quality over quantity. Reporters (volunteer users who post wildfire information) have a code of conduct. For example, they are not allowed to report on injuries or provide specific addresses. Everything is done based on specific criteria, and Watch Duty does not edit volunteer posts.'

Watch Duty was initially run solely by volunteers, but as of the time of writing, it seems that they are able to hire full-time staff. 'We still have volunteers, but as the organization grows and things get more complicated and the processes get more rigorous, we're getting more paid staff in-house,' Merritt said.

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According to Merritt, Watch Duty has no plans to charge for the app or collect user data. 'This is the opposite of what a lot of technology does. We don't want users to spend time in the app. We want them to get the information and then close the app. There is an option to add photos, but we limit them to those that provide different perspectives of the fires we're tracking. We don't want people to scroll through the screen to get information,' he said.

At the time of writing, Watch Duty relies heavily on information available from public agencies such as the National Weather Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. President-elect Trump has been accused of dismantling the EPA, which monitors air quality, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is the parent agency of the National Weather Service. If this were to happen, it could affect the operation of Watch Duty.

However, Merritt said, 'We will likely not be affected by any policy changes.' 'Watch Duty's main operating expense is the salaries of our staff. We hire great engineers and try to have a very robust platform, but if we need to raise grant money to buy data from the National Weather Service, we will do so.'