Watch Duty, an app to trace wildfires with stay maps and alerts, has grow to be the No. 1 free app in Apple’s App Store as of Wednesday morning. The fire-tracking app surpassed the ChatGPT app for the No. 1 spot as devastating fires proceed to rage throughout Southern California. ChatGPT had been within the No. 1 spot within the U.S. since August 9, in keeping with app intelligence supplier Appfigures.
Watch Duty has been round since 2021 and says it’s utilized by firefighters and first responders throughout the western United States.
The Watch Duty app pulls details about lively wildfires from a community of lively and retired firefighters, first responders, official authorities experiences, and volunteer reporters who monitor radio scanners across the clock. While different fire-tracking apps solely depend on authorities alerts, Watch Duty claims to have extra real-time data. However, it’s vital to recollect the app will not be a alternative for official data.
Downloading the app will present you wildfires in your quick space, and warn you about close by fires, evacuation warnings, and firefighting efforts.
You may use the app to test in different areas, which can be particularly useful when you have family members in Southern California.
The fire-tracking app shot to the highest of the charts Wednesday morning as greater than 70,000 individuals in and round Los Angeles county face evacuation orders from the Palisades Fire close to Santa Monica and the Eaton Fire close to Pasadena. At the time of writing, the Associated Press experiences that the fires have destroyed greater than 1,000 constructions and killed at the very least two individuals. The fires proceed to rage, pushed by a ferocious windstorm affecting the realm, with winds topping out at 100 mph.
“Friends in LA: Download the Watch Duty app to trace the fireplace in actual time,” mentioned Ryan Petersen, the CEO of Flexport, in a tweet on Tuesday. “It’s the official wild hearth app utilized by the firemen in California with very granular actual time updates, video feeds and evacuation maps.”
The app’s founder and CEO, John Mills, informed The Washington Post earlier this yr that he began Watch Duty after shifting to a fire-prone space of Northern California.
Update: This story initially printed January 8 and was up to date on January 9 to incorporate how lengthy ChatGPT had been within the high spot.
