Watch Duty: Wildfire Maps 4+

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.

I've been a long time resident in a very hazardous county for wildfire activity. We have been evacuated multiple times over the past decade, and it's always really tough to get updated information quickly. Usually we team up with family members and friends, with a few of us driving around scouting the fires that are too close for comfort to track movement visually. Used to rely on inciweb, but it was still slow and cumbersome.

I was traveling for work this week out of the state when these fires popped up, with my wife and two children at home. This app allowed us plenty of time to start packing things when a new fire started burning right on the other side of the hill. The amount of critical information available is astonishing - it's like this app is connected to every FD, news outlet, police station, and weather station simultaneously and putting all of the data on a map that is so well laid out it should win a design award. Seriously, thank you to the developers for putting this together, and giving us all a little more comfort being able to access the information.