Watch Duty (Wildfire)

Watch Duty

About this app

Watch Duty is the only wildfire mapping and alert app powered by real people giving you real-time information vetted by trained professionals, not robots. All other apps only rely on government alerts which can be hours late or flat out non-existent.

Watch Duty is run by active and retired firefighters, dispatchers, first responders, and reporters who monitor radio scanners in your area around the clock to bring you up-to-the-minute life saving information.

Wildfire tracking features:
Push notifications about nearby wildfires and ongoing firefighting efforts
Real-time updates as conditions change
Active fire perimeters and progress
Infrared satellite hotspot from VIIRS and MODIS
Wind speed and direction
Evacuation orders & shelter information
Historical wildfire perimeters
Street and satellite maps
Air attack and air tanker flight tracker
Saved locations on the map


Watch Duty is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that will always provide an unparalleled FREE service at no cost, forever. Our maps and alerting will always remain free but if you become a member for $25/year you will receive special features as a token of our appreciation. Your membership dues will support our free service for all and remain free of advertising or sponsorship.

If you’d like to drop us a line, learn more, or ask questions you can reach us anytime at support.watchduty.org. We’d love to hear from you.

Ratings and reviews

I'm in the building stages of my home, so there is, as of yet, no actual address to input. With this app I was able to enter my Block and Lot Numbers to receive notifications for when fires are in the vicinity. I do wish their fire maps were a little more detailed when it comes to unpaved county roads, so that I may get a better idea of how far away the fires are, but I'm sure that will come with time. Great app otherwise and I highly recommend it for people who live in rural areas.

Absolutely invaluable app for fire-prone California residents. Simple, easy to use and navigate, far more useful than CalFire's website, which I find slow. My only wish is that I could follow more counties. I believe the limit is 4 or 6, for all alerts from that particular county, and I'd like to see unlimited as I have family in multiple counties that I'd like all alerts for. Other than that, I have no complaints. I've never experienced any technical issues. This is app is excellent!!

I used this app last summer and liked it. I deleted it from my phone over the winter since I didn't need it. I downloaded it again yesterday and despite trying different combinations of downloading, deleting, restarting my phone, re-downloading, and playing with app settings, I couldn't get the app to work. I ended up deleting it for good in frustration. There's no other app as good. I wish Watch Duty still worked on my phone.

What's new

Improvements & Fixes