California’s new public-safety app gives residents direct access to agency-sourced emergency information — but the best approach to wildfire situational awareness still involves more than one source.

Californians have a new tool for staying informed when wildfires and other emergencies threaten their communities.

AwareCA is a free public-safety smartphone application developed in partnership with the State of California and participating public-safety agencies. Its most important distinction is not simply another map, another notification, or another way to follow a wildfire. It is the way information gets into the system.

AwareCA is designed to provide emergency and incident information supplied directly by the public-safety agencies responsible for managing an incident. California describes the application as providing “authoritative emergency information directly from the agencies that protect you.”

For residents trying to separate reliable emergency information from rumor, speculation and the enormous volume of information that can circulate during a wildfire, that distinction matters.

But it does not mean Californians should delete the other emergency applications on their phones.

In fact, at wildfire:LA, we believe just the opposite.

What Makes AwareCA Different?

AwareCA brings a significant collection of public-safety information into one application.

Users can see active wildfire and emergency incidents, incident updates, evacuation warning and order zones, shelters and assistance locations, response aircraft and flight paths, Caltrans traffic cameras, and ALERTCalifornia wildfire cameras. Users can also select different map views and hazard layers.

The application also allows users to save as many as 10 locations of interest — such as home, work, a child’s school or the community where an older family member lives — and determine how close an incident must be before receiving a notification. Learn more about AwareCA map and location features

That ability to personalize the application is important. During an emergency, more information is not automatically better information. A phone constantly generating notifications about incidents that do not affect you can create distraction and, eventually, alert fatigue.

Spend some time with AwareCA before an emergency. Set your locations. Review your notification preferences. Explore the map layers. Determine which information is useful to you.

The objective isn’t to see everything.

It’s to quickly find the information you need when something is happening.

What Does “Official” Mean?

This is an important distinction.

The incident and public-safety information displayed by AwareCA is authored and maintained by participating state and local public-safety agencies. The technology platform itself is provided by Intterra, which hosts and displays that agency information. Read AwareCA’s information and privacy details

That provides residents with a recognizable pathway back to the agencies responsible for the information. It should not, however, create the impression that information found in every other emergency application is somehow unofficial or unreliable.

Watch Duty, for example, is an independent nonprofit organization rather than a State of California application. Its reporting operation monitors official fire departments, law-enforcement agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and other government sources, as well as public-safety radio communications and official data systems. Watch Duty says it does not publish incident information based solely on an unverified social-media report. See how Watch Duty sources its information

Watch Duty can therefore provide a somewhat different form of situational awareness: trained reporters bring together multiple verified sources and operational information to explain what is happening as an incident develops.

These approaches don’t have to compete. They can complement each other.

Think “Information Network,” Not “One App”

One of the most important things a household can do before the next wildfire is create a personal information network.

Different tools answer different questions.

AwareCA can provide an authoritative view of agency-supplied incident information and offers a broad collection of public-safety data, maps, cameras, aircraft information and alerts.

Watch Duty can be particularly useful for understanding what is happening right now. Its reporters monitor official sources, radio communications, cameras and other verified information as incidents develop.

Ladris Sentinel and related Ladris technology add another dimension, emphasizing evacuation readiness, official jurisdiction zone status and evacuation information. Ladris describes its resident-facing Sentinel platform as providing wildfire evacuation planning, notifications, preparedness information and, where supported, live evacuation routing. Learn more about Ladris

And residents should still maintain direct connections to their local emergency notification systems and public-safety agencies.

That last point is essential.

An app is not an evacuation order. If your fire department, law-enforcement agency or other authorized public-safety agency tells you to evacuate, follow those instructions. Do not delay departure while comparing applications or waiting for another source to confirm the order.

A Network Creates Context

Imagine smoke suddenly appearing over the ridge near your home.

One source may tell you that a vegetation fire has been reported. Another may help you understand where firefighters believe the incident is located and what resources are responding. Another may show cameras or aircraft activity. Another may tell you whether your evacuation zone has changed status.

Together, those sources can answer three critical questions:

Where is the fire?

What is it doing?

How does it affect me?

That is situational awareness. It also illustrates why wildfire:LA does not recommend relying exclusively on any single smartphone application.

Interestingly, AwareCA makes essentially the same point. Its own privacy information describes the application as a supplemental information tool and specifically cautions users not to rely upon it as their sole source of emergency information. Residents should continue following local authorities and official emergency channels. Review AwareCA’s guidance

Avoid Information Overload

There is a downside to building an information network: your phone can become noisy. Installing four applications and enabling every possible notification from every possible source isn’t preparedness. It’s overload. Take time now to decide what each application is going to do for you.

You might configure AwareCA around several important locations. You might use Watch Duty for developing wildfire information. You might use an evacuation-focused application to understand your zone and movement options. And you should know which emergency notification system your local government uses.

The exact combination will vary by community. What matters is that you understand your tools before you need them.

A Welcome Addition to California’s Public-Safety Toolkit

AwareCA represents a useful addition to California’s public emergency-information environment.

It is free to the public, available for iOS and Android, contains no paywall for its public-safety capabilities, and brings a considerable amount of agency-sourced information into one place.

More importantly, it gives Californians another way to establish confidence in the information they are receiving during an emergency.

At wildfire:LA, we encourage residents to download AwareCA, learn how it works, customize it to their needs and make it part of their wildfire readiness.

But don’t stop there. Build an information network. Know which tool tells you what. Subscribe to local emergency notifications. Follow your fire and law-enforcement agencies. Understand your evacuation zone. And remember that technology supports good decision-making — it doesn’t replace it.

During a wildfire, the goal isn’t to have the most information. The goal is to have the right information, understand what it means, and act while you still have time.

Learn More

Visit the official AwareCA website and review the Support & FAQ section for instructions on locations of interest, notifications, map features, incident information and application settings.