Watch Duty App Provides Wildfire Updates and Evacuation Mandates for LA Residents

As the Palisades wildfire continues to rage and evacuation lines expand, Los Angeles residents look to the Watch Duty app for up-to-date information.

The Watch Duty app skyrocketed to the No. 1 spot on Apple’s App Store after more than half a million people downloaded it since the fires began Tuesday afternoon. The app debuted back in 2021 and provides live updates on fires to 22 states.

Countless people shared information on the Palisades fire on their social media accounts through the Watch Duty app. The updates come from a team of staff and volunteers that include veteran storm watchers, active and retired firefighters and dispatchers.

Nick Russell, Watch Duty’s vice president of operations, explained to NBC News their meticulous way of sending out updates to avoid the need to retract bad information later.

“One of the big things for us, our big theme, is quality over quantity. We’re not in a big hurry to get information that we’re going to have to go and retract later,” he said. “And so if it takes a few extra minutes to get it out there, that’s fine, but we want it to be that official info; and because we built a one-way communication platform, we don’t offer that venue for people to circulate nonsense … And so it really puts the ball in our court for good information”

It isn’t just the Los Angeles residents using the app to keep them safe as the high winds keep the Palisades fire spreading. According to Watch Duty, they are also used by the Los Angeles County sheriff, the Butte County sheriff, the Office of Emergency Management and frontline firefighters and tanker pilots.

The layout of the app shows not only what areas the fires are burning but also clear delineations on where the mandatory and suggested evacuation zones begin and end. The simplicity of it was one of the main draws to those affected or possibly affected by the wildfire.

Watch Duty has been a nonprofit-run free app since it was created four years ago and Russell said that will never change.

“I think it’s really important in today’s world, where so many people are trying to profit off disaster, to really understand that that’s not what Watch Duty is,” he told NBC News. “Watch Duty will remain free forever.”

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