FireRisk.ai vs Watch Duty

Watch Duty earned its reputation the hard way: human reporters and volunteer radio listeners narrating fires in real time, and a brand people trust in a crisis. This is an honest side-by-side of what each tool actually does — including where Watch Duty wins.

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FireRisk.ai
Watch Duty
Evacuation alerts
Per-home: your exact address is checked point-in-polygon against live official evacuation-zone geometry, with acknowledge-and-escalate follow-ups on critical alerts. Email + browser push today; text and a wake-you-up phone call are planned in the Protected plan.
App push notifications for incidents and evacuation updates in covered areas, posted by human reporters.
Firefighting aircraft tracking
Free — live air tankers and helicopters over active fires, no membership
Part of the paid membership (as of August 2026)
Saved homes & places
Free and unlimited on the dashboard — each gets its own risk score and 24/7 watch
Multiple saved locations are a membership feature (as of August 2026)
Following specific fires
Free — follow any incident and get email updates when it changes
Incident notifications in the app; extra capacity tied to membership (as of August 2026)
Coverage
Fire detection in all 50 states from federal interagency feeds, with programmatic state, county and city pages
In-app incident coverage where Watch Duty operates, strongest in wildfire-prone Western states
Pre-official detection
Automated sweeps of interagency dispatch (WildCAD) every 5 minutes — new dispatches often appear before the national feed
Human reporters and radio listeners monitoring dispatch and scanner traffic — their core strength
Incident narration
Automated updates, verbatim-sourced from official feeds — no human storytelling
Human-written incident updates, curated by trained reporters — the best-known crisis narration in the space
Wildfire risk score
Free 0–100 score for any address from federal hazard data, plus insurance exposure and a mitigation plan
Not offered — Watch Duty is incident tracking, not property risk
Insurance & mitigation records
Insurance packet, mitigation records and trusted local mitigation pros
Not offered
Price
Free (alerts, aircraft, saved places, follows); optional paid plans add alert channels
Free app; membership unlocks extra features (as of August 2026)

The short version

Watch Duty is built around the fire: human-curated narration of incidents as they burn, and nobody does that storytelling better. FireRisk.ai is built around your home: a free 0–100 risk score for the address itself, evacuation alerts that check your exact coordinates against live official zone geometry (swept every 5 minutes), automated dispatch-log sweeps for brand-new ignitions, live aircraft over the fire, and the insurance and mitigation work that comes after awareness. Aircraft tracking, saved places, and following fires — membership features elsewhere as of August 2026 — are free here.

Neither app issues evacuation orders — only your local authorities do. Whatever you install, register for your county’s official alerts and treat 911 as the only emergency channel. See our free wildfire alerts and the detection channels behind them.

FAQ

Is FireRisk.ai a Watch Duty alternative?

They overlap but do different jobs. Watch Duty is the best-known human-curated incident tracker — trained reporters and radio listeners narrating fires as they burn. FireRisk.ai is property-first: a free wildfire risk score for your exact address, per-home evacuation alerts checked against live official zone geometry, automated 5-minute sweeps of dispatch and evacuation feeds, and the insurance and mitigation records that follow. Many households run both.

What does FireRisk.ai include free that is paid elsewhere?

As of August 2026, live firefighting-aircraft tracking, saving multiple homes and places, and following specific fires are free on FireRisk.ai — features Watch Duty offers through its paid membership. FireRisk’s paid plans exist too, but they sell alert channels (text, a phone call that wakes you), not those features.

Which should I use during an active fire?

Your county’s official alerts and 911 come first — always. Watch Duty’s human incident narration is excellent while a fire is burning. FireRisk.ai watches your specific address around the clock: it sweeps official evacuation feeds every 5 minutes and alerts you if your home falls inside a listed zone, alongside new-fire and Red Flag warnings for your location.

Does FireRisk.ai issue evacuation orders?

No — and neither does any app. Evacuation orders come only from local authorities. FireRisk.ai relays what official feeds publish, verbatim and linked to the exact source, and points you to your county and Genasys Protect to confirm. In an emergency, call 911.

See what’s watching your home — free

Your address’s wildfire risk score, per-home alerts, live fires and aircraft nearby — no membership, no card.

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