This app has been indispensable to me during California’s January 2025 Wildfire Nightmare. Tapping on each fire icon (🔥) gives updates to the information about developments in the acreage of each fire; the percentage of containment; what the emergency response is; what areas are under evacuation orders to Go, and which areas are advised to prepare (Set). There are locations of shelters listed, and I can check on the neighborhoods of various friends so that (some of) my worry is a little more manageable — at least, I know whose areas are most affected. The fire icon is greyed out on fires that have been put out, which is also a relief to see. I’ve shared this app with friends and family, and I’ve just become a member. The free features are so comprehensive and good, and the membership adds a few more features (I haven’t really explored the expanded features yet — but I do see helicopter and air-tanker icons on the screen showing where fire retardant is being dropped, I think?). More importantly, membership supports the important work this app does. There is an option to make a one-time donation as well, but the expanded features that come with annual membership (two tiers available) and the ability to offer more consistent support to the work done by those who offer this app free of charge feels like a good commitment to make. This is an amazingly comprehensive app — run by skilled and dedicated volunteers — with no ads.

I heard about this app just recently during the Airport Fire and Line Fire. I have many friends with homes in both those areas. It was nice to be able to move from one fire to another so easily to get updates, see live video feed and have the transit/satalite/topography options as well as the satellite hot spots that really gives you a good idea of what is still active and what is not. I’m thankful for this app and I have shared it with my friends who were even more thankful to know their second homes in the Line Fire area were being protected as well as friends near Trabuco Canyon on both sides who were able to get an early idea of what directions the winds were blowing by the live video feed and whether there was a chance they would be in the evacuation zone long before they announced it. Everyone I know who were in the area are all safe as well as their homes. Thank you to all the hard working never stopping fire fighters and retardant/water droppers as well as everyone making the calls to protect homes in Orange County and San Bernardino County. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes more toward Riverside County and on the 74. I will never get rid of this app. So informative. I do wish the fire lines were updated a little more often if possible.

Thank goodness for this app! I live in Los Angeles and have been impacted by the wildfires, I use Watch Duty now more than I even use the Weather or the Maps app on my iPhone! This app is updated regularly and pretty accurate; I check three other air quality maps frequently and I’d say this one is the best for accurate and quicker updates to wind shifts and fluctuations in the AQI. I love the legend with clear labeling and color coding for AQI. Something to keep in mind with any of these maps, though — according to the EPA, the AQI number only shows particulate pollution from 5 major pollutants and doesn’t show the amount of harmful gases or vapors in the air, so keep that in mind with any air quality maps that as far as tracking wildfire spread and updates on containment, you can’t get better than this app. When it comes to tracking wildfires, Watch Duty more accurately reported initial wildfires early on (Hughes and Sepulveda specifically) before news stations on big networks or major newspapers did! ***Most importantly, in addition to L.A.’s citywide text alerts, Watch Duty told us when it was time to evacuate.*** Really grateful to the creators of this app — if you’re reading this, thank you so, so much. You have no idea how much you’ve helped our family.

I live at the other end of the same small mountain range as Altadena, CA, which recently burned in the Eaton fire. As a foothills dweller I’ve had PulsePoint installed for about 10 years to help give us early warnings about vegetation fires. During the recent horrific Santa Ana wind event I learned about Watch Duty and was just blown away by how useful it was to keep track of the fires and wind direction. Being able to get a live view from the wildlife cameras was really helpful too; there was a small fire in the forest to the north of us that could potentially have impacted our neighborhood, but we could monitor it through Watch Duty (and the USFS were on top of it!).It’s always been a little risky to live in the Los Angeles foothills and mountains, but you could usually get by with brush clearance and our amazing firefighters. Things are different now; we may not have much time to evacuate at all, and need all of the advance warning and information we can get. It’s been a few weeks since the fires and I just remembered to come back and subscribe. My partner and I both agree that we already got an annual membership’s worth of value just from this last event! I’m so grateful to the Watch Duty team for their work! <3