Watch Duty: Wildfire & Floods

13.7K reviews
Content rating
Everyone
1M+
Downloads
Content rating
Everyone
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About this app

Watch Duty is the only disaster mapping and alert app powered by real people giving you real-time information on wildfires and floods vetted by trained professionals, not robots or AI. While many other apps rely solely on government alerts, which can often be delayed, Watch Duty provides up-to-the-minute, life-saving information through a dedicated team of active and retired firefighters, dispatchers, first responders, and reporters who monitor radio scanners around the clock. We aim to keep you informed and safe with real-time updates and alerts.

Watch Duty is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our service will always remain free of charge and free of ads. You can support our mission with a $25/year membership, which grants access to special features as a token of our appreciation.

Disclaimer: Watch Duty is not affiliated with any government agency. The information provided in this app is sourced from publicly available and trusted sources, including but not limited to government agencies, radio transmissions, and satellite data. Specific government sources are listed below.

Disaster Tracking Features:

- Push notifications about nearby safety impacting floods, wildfires, and firefighting or emergency response efforts
- Real-time updates as conditions change
- Evacuation orders & shelter information
- Active fire perimeters and progress
- Flash flood warnings and threat levels
- Current and projected river gauge flooding levels
- Infrared satellite hotspots from VIIRS and MODIS
- Wind speed and direction
- Power outage size and estimated resolution time
- Historical wildfire perimeters
- Air quality readings
- Street and satellite maps
- Air attack and air tanker flight tracker
- Save locations for quick access on the map

Government Data Sources:

- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: https://www.noaa.gov
- VIIRS: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/instruments/viirs
- MODIS: https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov
- National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC): https://www.nifc.gov
- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE): https://www.fire.ca.gov
- California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES): https://www.caloes.ca.gov
- National Weather Service (NWS): https://www.weather.gov
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): https://www.epa.gov
- Bureau of Land Management: https://www.blm.gov
- Department of Defense: https://www.defense.gov
- National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov
- US Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov
- US Forest Service: https://www.fs.usda.gov
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): https://hazards.fema.gov

For more information or support, feel free to contact us at support.watchduty.org.

Privacy Policy: https://www.watchduty.org/legal/privacy-policy
Fire & Flood Maps and Alerts
Updated on
Nov 1, 2026

Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
  • No data shared with third parties
    Learn more about how developers declare sharing
  • This app may collect these data types
    Location and Personal info
  • Data is encrypted in transit
  • You can request that data be deleted

Ratings and reviews

13.3K reviews
Sarah Cornthwaite
October 11, 2022
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!!
233 people found this review helpful
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Pamela Bright
September 15, 2024
Terrific reference for folks living in high fire incident areas! Up to the minute status updates and photos. As a resident in the Sierra foothills, this app is invaluable to me, I love it! No glitches, no problems working on my Samsung Andoid tablet. EDIT 9/2024 Even after uninstalling and reinstalling the app on my Android phone, it has stopped working properly. I can't see ANY fires, nor does it alert me to fires in my area. I can't figure it out. It works properly on my Android tablet, thoug
78 people found this review helpful
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Mina M.
January 14, 2025
Thank you from Los Angeles!!! This app has been a lifesaver. It has everything you need - maps with fire burn area and acreage size, containment levels, evacuation zones, warning zones, wind directions, air quality, frequent news updates, public cameras to see mountain views of the fires, the ability to choose what states/counties to track and then what specific wildfires to track, push notifications with a good alert noise and volume, photos of the fires. I can't praise this app enough!
154 people found this review helpful
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What’s new

This release includes various improvements and fixes.