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               AppBITS: Monitor Wildfire Threats with Watch Duty

   Adam Engst

   The devastating wildfires this month in Los Angeles have affected a
   vast number of people, with 180,000 forced to evacuate and another
   200,000 under evacuation advisories. TidBITS contributing editor
   Michael Cohen is in the second group because he lives in Santa Monica,
   literally across the street from the nearest evacuation zone border. He
   still has power, water, and even Internet service and has been updating
   us on his status over the past few days.

   To keep abreast of the situation, I've started using an iPhone app
   recommended by some Apple consultant friends:[1]Watch Dutyfrom the
   nonprofit Sherwood Forestry Service. The app is essentially a container
   for the[2]Watch Dutywebsite, which provides wildfire maps and real-time
   alerts.[3]It doesn't just repackage publicly available information;
   instead, it relies on active and retired wildland firefighters,
   dispatchers, first responders, and reporters to collect, vet, and
   disseminate information about wildfires. Watch Duty provides its
   critical safety features for free, but a [4]$24.99-per-year
   membershiphelps support the nonprofit. It also allows you to drop pins
   for more locations, receive alerts for more than four counties, and
   track the flight paths of active firefighting aircraft.

   The app is focused around its map, which shows fires, zones under an
   evacuation order or warning, wildfire cameras, and more. Additional
   layers let you see power outages (only in California), display surface
   wind direction to get a sense of how the fire might be moving, and air
   quality index numbers to evaluate the smoke situation. Beyond the usual
   zooming and panning to find map locations, you can swipe up on the
   search field to see all the fires in the visible location or search for
   an incident, an address, or a place. To stay current on what's
   happening, you can sign up for notifications about fire starts,
   evacuations, and significant updates by county, though they may be
   overwhelming for those only trying to assess what family and friends
   may be experiencing.

   

References

   Visible links
   1. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/watch-duty-wildfire-maps/id1574452924
   2. https://www.watchduty.org/
   3. https://www.watchduty.org/how-it-works/overview
   4. https://www.watchduty.org/join

   Hidden links:
   5. https://tidbits.com/uploads/2025/01/Watch-Duty-scaled.jpg

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