Watch Duty focuses on high-risk vegetation fires and fires with the potential to become high-risk vegetation fires. Because of this, not every fire reported to first responders will appear in Watch Duty.

Our reporting team evaluates incidents based on their potential risk to the surrounding community.

What fires does Watch Duty typically not report?

We typically don't report:

• Structure fires, unless they spread to nearby vegetation or pose a broader threat to the surrounding community.
• Minor vegetation fires that first responders report as having a slow or no rate of spread, remaining within a small area, not threatening structures, and expected to be handled quickly.

There can be exceptions. For example, we may report an incident that wouldn't normally meet our criteria if authorities issue evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions for the surrounding community.

Why doesn't Watch Duty notify me about every fire?

We want Watch Duty alerts to remain useful when there's an incident you need to know about.

Sending notifications for every minor fire or update could contribute to notification fatigue, making it easier to overlook an alert when a more significant incident occurs.

For that reason, the fact that a fire has been reported doesn't necessarily mean Watch Duty will send a notification—or that the incident will appear in the app at all.

Some lower-risk fires may appear without a notification

Watch Duty may cover some smaller or lower-risk incidents as silent events.

Silent events appear in Watch Duty but don't generate a standard push notification. You can choose to receive notifications for silent events if you want to be alerted about this additional incident activity. For more information, see How Watch Duty Notifications Work.

We may also report a lower-risk fire when there's significant visible smoke or a notable aerial response that could cause concern among nearby residents.

If you see a fire, call 911

Watch Duty is not a place to report fires.

If you see a fire or believe there is an unreported fire near you, call 911 first. Do not wait for the incident to appear in Watch Duty.

Watch Duty provides information about incidents being monitored by our reporting team; it is not an emergency dispatch service.