Ring announced Fire Watch, a safety feature in the Neighbors section of the Ring app designed to give communities and first responders real-time, ground-truth information during active fire events. In collaboration with Watch Duty, a non-profit dedicated to humanizing and accelerating emergency information, Fire Watch helps deliver timely emergency alerts, surfaces critical insights for first responders, and keeps communities better informed when every second counts.
Fire Watch, which will begin rolling out nationwide this spring, includes three components designed to keep customers better informed and safer during wildfire events: Real-Time Fire Alerts from Watch Duty; AI-Powered Smoke and Fire Detection and Voluntary Community Contribution. The feature enables Ring camera owners to voluntarily share periodic snapshots with Watch Duty to enhance its trusted and comprehensive fire reporting, and support first responders on the ground.
Fire Watch builds on Watch Duty’s comprehensive fire reporting by enabling Ring customers to play a voluntary, supportive role during wildfire events — sharing visual context from their own neighborhoods when it can be most helpful to the emergency response.
When Watch Duty identifies a wildfire, nearby customers receive an alert in the Ring or Neighbors app. Alert zones are based on nearby fires, with an added safety buffer to help ensure notifications are timely and relevant. For Ring Protect subscribers within an alert zone, outdoor Ring cameras will automatically begin analyzing video for visual signs of smoke or flames. If detected, customers receive an immediate alert so they can quickly assess the situation and take action to help protect their families and property.
During an active wildfire, customers inside the alert zone can choose to support first responders and their community by securely sharing snapshots from their Ring cameras with Watch Duty directly through the Ring app. All sharing is optional and controlled by the customer for each fire event.
“Ring began with a single doorbell I built in my garage — one that was sadly lost in the Palisades fire last year,” said Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor of Ring. “While that loss is small compared to the devastation experienced by families and the lives lost, it reinforces why this work matters so deeply to me. Partnering with Watch Duty is a meaningful way to honor Ring’s origins and our shared commitment to supporting communities and the first responders who work tirelessly to protect them. The garage may be gone, but the spirit of innovation and neighbor-to-neighbor support that started there is stronger than ever.”
The launch of Fire Watch coincides with the one-year anniversary of the Los Angeles fires, underscoring the growing need for better tools during fast-moving and unpredictable fire events.
