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WatchDuty volunteers and other third-party systems stepped in during LA wildfires; lawmakers consider integrating redundancy
Summary
WatchDuty, a volunteer-run app, provided rapid, granular wildfire updates during the Palisades and Eaton fires and saw a large surge in users. Witnesses and local officials described how third-party platforms complemented official alerts and urged clearer context in messages.
Nick Russell, vice president of operations for WatchDuty, told a joint legislative hearing that the nonprofit app and its volunteer network furnished rapid, location-specific wildfire alerts during the Palisades and Eaton fires when official channels lagged.
Why it matters: WatchDuty and similar third-party platforms provided many residents with earlier situational information and mapping that officials said helped some users make evacuation decisions. Lawmakers asked whether the state should formally integrate or adopt community-powered tools or otherwise make official systems easier for small jurisdictions to use.
Russell described WatchDuty as ‘‘a community powered wildfire alert system’’ that combines volunteer monitoring of dispatch signals, camera…
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