The Silicon Valley veterans who want to bring you wildfire info in real time

Watch Duty, launched last year, sends users push notifications about new and spreading fire, giving them vital time to prepare

Growing threats from wildfires loom large across the American west as blazes burn with greater ferocity and frequency. Alongside them, residents' calls for on-demand information during disasters has only continued to grow.

In California, just hours north of the tech hub in Silicon Valley, a new app called Watch Duty has jumped into the void. The budding platform promises to alert and warn users about encroaching wildfires in real time - and it's free.