Building a Real-Time Wildfire Alert Platform with Watch Duty

John Mills is the Co-Founder and CEO of Watch Duty, the leading app for real-time wildfire alerts in the U.S.

In this episode of Inevitable, John shares how Watch Duty became a vital public safety tool—rising to #1 in the App Store during the recent Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Watch Duty delivers live updates on fire spread, evacuations, and recovery efforts. While historically funded by donations and memberships, the platform now also offers a pro version for first responders, utilities, and emergency managers.

John discusses his vision for building a mission-driven tech company that serves the public while scaling to meet growing demand in an increasingly wildfire-prone world.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [4:00] Introduction to Watch Duty 
• [07:39] Gaining trust and overcoming initial resistance from fire departments
• [09:06] How first responders are using Watch Duty 
• [09:57] Inside the “war room” during the Palisades Fire response
• [13:24] How Watch Duty reporters gather and vet real-time radio traffic
• [17:28] Nuance and restraint in sharing emergency information 
• [20:50] The origin story of Watch Duty 
• [21:11] John’s journey from Silicon Valley to off-grid life and nonprofit founder
• [36:44] Operating as a nonprofit and scaling into new disaster zones
• [52:58] Why private innovation is outpacing government tech 
• [57:22] Advice for founders building in disaster response and recovery 
• [01:00:12] Final thoughts on mission, trust, and what’s next for Watch Duty

Episode recorded on March 12, 2025 (Published on April 3, 2025)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant