“We’re always looking for ways we can add value for our users in times of fear and uncertainty…” — Watch Duty spokeswoman Liz Caselli-Mechael
organization to offer paid features to help fund its mission. Last year, the entity more than doubled its headcount, bringing its total staff and volunteers to 292. With a $6 million budget, Watch Duty derives its revenue through donations from individuals, companies and foundations. It provides varied memberships with premium features. Paid features include tracking firefighting flights and custom mapping tools. The company states that it costs 39 cents per person “to inform and protect someone for an entire year.”
range of users. They range from public agencies and private companies to first responders and individual device users. “2026 is the year that we turn rapid growth into lasting strength, expanding to new hazards, reaching more households and building the foundation that will carry Watch Duty into the next era,” Mills said in a statement. g
We Value Our Customers
With its signature ringtone, Watch Duty started in August 2021, when two Sonoma County software developers created a program that supplies wildfire alerts on mobile devices and computers. Before Watch Duty came onto the scene, co-founder and CEO John Mills sought alerts during the Walbridge Fire, one wildland blaze that was part of the large-scale LNU Lightning Complex that broke out in August 2020. The Healdsburg man teamed up with Damian Boune of Cazadero, who feared another 2017 Tubbs or 2019 Kincade firestorm would devastate the region again. In about a year, the app’s user list skyrocketed to 193,000. Last year, 16.8 million people turned to the app, according to company officials. The website is visited 1.17 billion times, averaging 3 million visits per day, Watch Duty adds. Caselli-Mechael stressed that Mills is proud of his company’s accomplishments and partnerships, reaching a wide
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