From his home in northern California, Nick Russell, a former farm manager, is monitoring the Los Angeles-area fires.
He knows that about 600 kilometers south, people in Los Angeles are relying on his team’s live neighborhood-by-neighborhood updates on fire outbreaks, smoke direction, surface wind predictions and evacuation routes.
Russell is vice president of operations at Watch Duty, a free app that tracks fires and other natural disasters. It relies on a variety of data sources such as cameras and sensors throughout the state, government agencies, first responders, a core of volunteers, and its own team of reporters.
An emergency at his house, for example, would be "much different" from one at his neighbor's house .4 kilometers away, Russell said. "That is true for communities everywhere, and that’s where technology really comes in."
Watch Duty's delivery of detailed localized information is one reason for its success with its 7 million users, many of whom downloaded the app in recent weeks.
It acts as a virtual emergency operations center, culling and verifying data points.
Watch Duty’s success points to the promise that technologies such as artificial intelligence and sensors will give residents and first responders the real-time information they need to survive and fight natural disasters.
Google and other firms have invested in technology to track fires. Several startup firms are also looking for ways to use AI, sensors and other technologies in natural disasters.
Utility firms work with Gridware, a company that places AI-enhanced sensors on power lines to detect a tree branch touching the line or any other vibrations that could indicate a problem.
Among Watch Duty’s technology partners is ALERTCalifornia, run by the University of San Diego, which has a network of more than 1,000 AI-enhanced cameras throughout the state looking for smoke. The cameras often detect fires before people call emergency lines, Russell said.
Together with ALERTCalifornia’s information, Russell said, "we have become the eyes and ears" of fires.
Another Watch Duty partner is N-5 Sensors, a Maryland-based firm. Its sensors, which are placed in the ground, detect smoke, heat and other signs of fire.
"They're like a nose, if you will, so they detect smoke anomalies and different chemical patterns in the air," Russell said.
Watch Duty is available in 22 states, mostly in the western U.S., and plans to expand to all states.
While fire has been its focus, Watch Duty also plans to track other natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis, Russell said.
"Fire is not in the name," he said. "We want to be that one-stop shop where people can go in those times of duress, to have a source that makes it clear and concise what’s happening."
