As a reporter for Watch Duty for the last 3 years or so, I always recommend Watch Duty to everyone I know. It was nice to see Rayner from Fire Adapted Big Sur (a program of Community Association of Big Sur) send out this information to his email list. For those of you who may have missed this, by either FABS or me, here it is with good instructions on how to install and use it. BTW, we have been expanding westward and are almost to the Mississippi River, and after what happened in Texas are looking to not just expand our coverage of wildfire, but also of other natural disasters. It has always been Watch Duty’s goal to assist first responders in getting the information out to our communities so that we can help save lives. It is free for the basic service for your county and up to three others. For a ridiculously low yearly fee, other aspects of the service are opened up to you, such as flight patters so you can watch in real time the tankers and helicopters that are on a fire. The pro service is generally used by first responders agencies, counties, utilities, and other organizations responsible for emergencies. I hope you join us by downloading this free app. Bigsurkate

Dear Neighbors, The Watch Duty app for your smartphone and tablet provides timely and critical wildfire alerts. There are many configuration options – here’s guidance for tailoring the app for notifications and to display the information that you want. Respectfully – Rayner Watch Duty is a nonprofit-funded wildfire alert app designed to keep communities informed in real time about nearby fires. Staffed by a network of experienced fire reporters, dispatchers, and journalists, the app provides live updates on wildfire activity sourced from official scanner traffic, fire maps, and direct field observations. Unlike traditional alert systems that may lag, Watch Duty aims to deliver faster, more localized information about evacuations, containment, and changing conditions. It has become an essential tool for California residents in fire-prone areas. During the first two days of the Palisades and Eaton fires, ~1.4 million residents signed up to obtain safety and evacuation information from Watch Duty. The app features an intuitive interface that displays wildfires on a map, with clickable icons providing detailed, timestamped updates. Residents can receive push notifications specifically for the County of Monterey, allowing them to stay ahead of developing threats. The app may be used for free. Optional annual Basic ($24.99) and Pro ($99.99) memberships provide additional features. Here are step-by-step instructions for setting up Watch Duty on your Apple iOS or Google Android device (refer to app screenshots in photo):Download the Watch Duty app from the App Store or Google Play.Open the app, select the 3-bar Menu icon next to “Watch Duty” (upper-left screen). Select Settings > Notifications. Select Monterey County. Select Updates > All Notifications unless you wish to only receive a single notification about a local fire. Check the box adjacent to Include Silent Incidents if you wish to receive alerts about all local fires. Otherwise, you’ll receive alerts only once a fire has reached a certain severity threshold. You may optionally add additional counties.Select the Layers icon (upper-right screen). Street, Satellite, and Topographic map views are available. Select which features you wish to have displayed on the map (some features require paid membership): a. General – fire perimeters, satellite hotspots, flight tracker (fixed-and rotary-winged aircraft servicing the fire), power outages, live wildfire cameras b. Weather – weather stations, fire weather and red flag warnings, surface wind direction, air quality index (AQI) c. Professional – ownership & responsibility (federal, state, electrical utilities, private), critical infrastructure (electrical transmission lines, natural gas pipelines, radio repeaters), pre-planned evacuation zones.