Watch Duty is a volunteer-contributed mobile app and web platform that provides real-time wildfire information and alerts to the public.

It utilizes a combination of official data sources and human monitoring by experienced volunteers, including active and retired firefighters, dispatchers, and first responders.

[1] Watch Duty was launched in August 2021 by John Mills, who experienced a wildfire shortly after he moved to Sonoma County, California.

Mills discovered that updates were being shared on social media by volunteers following radio scanners, and developed the Watch Duty app to make the information more readily available.

[3] Watch Duty sources wildfire information from radio scanner transmissions, firefighters, sheriffs, and CAL FIRE publications.