If you live in Los Angeles, you’re probably already familiar with Watch Duty, a free app that provides information on active fires, mandatory evacuation zones, air quality indices, wind direction, and other information that everyone, From firefighters to regular people, have come to rely on During this week’s historic and devastating wildfires.
Watch Duty is unique in the tech world because it doesn’t care about user engagement, time spent, or ad sales. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit behind it cares only about the accuracy of the information it provides and the speed with which the service provides that information. The app itself has taken off, reaching the top of Apple and Google’s app stores. More than 1 million people have downloaded This last few days alone.
The beauty of the app lies in its simplicity. It doesn’t scrape user data, show ads, require any kind of login, or track your information. Its simple tech stack and UI — most of which are handled by volunteer engineers and reporters — have likely helped save countless lives. While Watch Duty is free to use, the app accepts tax-deductible donations and offers two levels of membership that unlock additional features, such as a firefighting flight tracker and the ability to set alerts for more than four counties. .
With plans to expand the service in the United States as well as overseas and into other emergency services, Watch Duty may eventually change somewhat. And less reliable Local government warning systems for millions of people.
Photo by Lokman Vural Alibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
An app born from fire
Considerations for watch duty Came to co-founder John Mills When he was trying to save his off-grid Sonoma County home from the Walbridge fire in 2020. He realized that there was no single source for all the information needed to save people from the fire, which ultimately killed 33 people and destroyed 156. home John and his friend David Merritt, co-founder and CTO of Watch Duty, decided to create an app to help.
“It came out of an idea that John had, and he talked to me about it four years ago,” explains Merritt. Verge. “We built the app in 60 days, and it was run entirely by volunteers, no full-time staff. It was a side project for many engineers, so the aim was to keep it as simple as possible.”
Fire reporting is best in fire-prone areas and often spreads across platforms like Facebook and X, where fire departments and counties have verified pages sharing relevant updates. But increasingly, social media platforms are putting automated access to alert services behind paywalls. Governments also use a variety of early warning systems, which can lead to delays that can lead to loss of life, especially for fast-growing fires such as the Palisades and Eaton fires that have prompted large numbers of people to evacuate. forced to 180,000 people. And sometimes, it is run by the government Warnings are sent by mistakeCaused public confusion.
Watch Duty makes everything easier for millions of people.
“We see what we’re doing as a public service,” says Merritt. “This is a utility that everyone should have, timely, relevant information to protect them during an emergency. At present, it is very scattered. Even the agencies themselves, with good intentions, have their hands tied by bureaucracy or contracts. We partner with government resources with a focus on firefighting.
“We see what we’re doing as a public service.”
One of the biggest problems around fires, in particular, is that they can move quickly and consume large swaths of land and structures in minutes. For example, the Paulides Fire was driven by winds to spread over 10,000 acres 90 miles per hour on Tuesday. When minutes matter, a piecemeal warning system that alters watch duty can lead to delays that cost lives.
“Some delivery systems for push notifications and text messages that government agencies use had a 15-minute delay, which is not good for a fire,” says Merritt. “We shoot to get push notifications out within a minute. Currently, 1.5 million people in LA are receiving push notifications through the app. That’s a lot of messages to send in 60 seconds. Usually, people are getting it all at the same time.
A simple technical stack
For watch duty, this type of mass communication requires reliable technology as well as dedicated staff and a group of skilled volunteers. Merritt says Watch Duty relies on a number of corporate partners with whom it has relationships and contracts to provide its service.
“We shoot to get push notifications out within a minute.”
The app is built on a mix of technologies including Google’s Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, Firebase, Fastly and Heroku. Merritt says the app uses some AI, but only for internal routing of alerts and emails. Reporters on watch duty — who listen to the scanners and update the app with push notifications about everything from air drops to evacuation updates — are mostly volunteers who coordinate coverage through Slack.
“All information is scrutinized for quality over quantity,” he says. “We have a code of conduct for journalists. For example, we never report injuries or give specific addresses. All these are designed with a specific set of criteria. We don’t do editorials. We report what we hear on the scanners.
According to Merit, the app has 100 percent uptime. Although it started with volunteer engineers, the nonprofit has gradually added more full-time people. “We still have volunteers helping us, but as we grow, as things get more complex, and we have more rigorous processes, it’s internal paid staff.” And more and more,” he says.
“All information is checked for quality over quantity.”
He says the app has no plans to ever charge or scrape user data. Type of access field of dreams How to build a free app that saves lives: If you build it well, the funding will come.
“It’s the antithesis of a lot of technology,” says Merritt. “We don’t want you to spend time in the app. You get the information and get out. We have the option to add more photos, but we limit them to those that provide a different view of the fire we’re tracking. We don’t want people scrolling doom.”
Photo by Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Information gathering in the age of Trump
Watch duties rely heavily on publicly available information from places like the National Weather Service and the Environmental Protection Agency. Should the incoming Trump administration decide to follow through on the threats Disbanding and disbanding the EPA (which monitors air quality) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Parent agency of the National Weather ServiceSuch maneuvers will affect the ability to conduct watch duty.
Still, Merritt is optimistic. “We will be well protected from any change in policy,” he says. “We’re either already buying that information or we’re happy to buy it, and we’ll charge for it. The fact that we are soon going to cover the entire US will minimize the cost of anything that changes from a policy perspective. Most of our operating expenses are salaries. We’re trying to hire really good engineers and have a really solid platform. If we need to raise a grant to buy data from the National Weather Service, we will.
No matter what the next administration does, it’s clear that Watch Duty has become a critical and essential app for those living in Southern California right now. The app currently covers 22 states and plans to roll out nationwide soon.
According to Merritt, “We’ve had 1.4 million app downloads in the last few days. “I think we’ve only received about 60 support tickets, so that shows there’s something working there. We are really focused on delivering this information. “
