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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Gabrielle Canon

‘It’s not just alerts, it’s a state of mind’: How a wildfire monitoring app became essential in the US west

John Mills California
A man wearing glasses and a hat poses
John Mills, the CEO and founder of Watch Duty. ‘[The app] was [built] from the bottom up – from the back of the woods to the White House.’ Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian

Cristy Thomas began to panic as she called 911 for the second time on a warm October day but couldn’t get through. She anxiously watched the plume of black smoke pouring over her rural community in central California get larger.

Then she heard a familiar ping.

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