You can track the Los Angeles wildfires with a free app

On your phone or your computer.
 By 
Alex Perry
 on 
Los Angeles firefighter overlooking a flaming structure during the 2025 wildfires
Containment is seemingly still a ways off, but you can check progress on Watch Duty. Credit: Official Flickr Account of CAL FIRE / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images

If you are in Los Angeles or have loved ones who are, there is an app you can use to track the progress of the multiple dangerous wildfires burning across and around the city.

Watch Duty, which is available via iOS and Android, as well as in a web browser, is a free app with a clean interface that allows users to check on wildfires anywhere, not just in LA. That said, it's particularly helpful for the LA wildfires thanks to the presence of helpful information about the containment level of each fire (sadly, it's sitting around zero percent for most of them at the time of writing) and which areas have been evacuated.

Watch Duty app screenshot showing the wildfires in Los Angeles
A look at how the app works. Credit: Screenshot: Watch Duty

A combination of unseasonably dry weather and intense wind storms helped create the inferno currently threatening LA. As of Thursday morning, tens of thousands of acres of land have already burned, with more to come as firefighters struggle to contain the flames. Almost 200,000 area residents are under evacuation orders, with at least five confirmed dead, CBS News reports.


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journalist alex perry looking at a smartphone
Alex Perry
Tech Reporter

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

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