While the destructive Los Angeles fires rage, all eyes have turned to the app that lets you track them. WIRED spoke with Watch Duty founder John Mills about how the platform has met the moment.

Watch Duty was created in 2021 by John Mills, the founder and CEO, who was inspired to build an app after experiencing frightening wildfires in 2019 and 2020 near his home in Sonoma County, California.

Struggling to keep track of fast moving wildfires and the latest evacuation zones, residents of Los Angeles are rushing to download a free app called Watch Duty. The company said it had gained more than 1.