THE WILDFIRE APP COULD SAVE LIVES

With the deadly wildfires that took place in California over the past month and the fact that many are still missing in Northern California, the American Red Cross team decided to team up with others to produce an information service that could have saved lives. 

A big part of this is the Wildfire app and on KVNU's For the People program on Monday, communications director for the Red Cross in Utah and Nevada, Rich Woodruff, said education is the key element with this service.

“It’s both education before an event (and) during an event and then even after in terms of the recovery. It’s basically designed to have that emergency information at your fingertips," Woodruff explained. "First of all, you want to be prepared in the event that you have to face this kind of a situation and then during the event, real-time information, traffic reports, maybe shelter locations…just live information that can be very helpful during the event”

It is hoped that all those that are still missing are safe, but with the communication infrastructure affected by the fires, they cannot make contact with their loved ones. That is where the Wildfire app comes in.

“That’s a great feature, in fact, all the apps that we develop have the ‘safe and well’ feature because of a lot of times…look at the situation we’re in now, a lot of people missing and it’s very confusing, very chaotic. In disasters that’s kind of the nature of what happens so that is a feature that is part of this and the other apps that we have that are surrounding disasters”

 The WIldfire App will feature the following: 

• Step-by-step instructions to let you know what to do even before/during/after wildfires, even if you have no data connectivity
• Wildfire News section with state-by-state links to all fire-fighting agencies’ Twitter feeds and websites ensuring the most recent developments on current wildfires
• Click-to-call access to your state’s 911 networks for the latest traffic information in case of evacuation
• Let family and friends know you are okay with the customizable “I’m Safe” alert for Facebook, Twitter, email and text
• Find open Red Cross shelters in your area when you need help
• Stay safe when the lights are out with the Toolkit, including a strobe light, flashlight and audible alert functions
• Prepare for the worst by learning how to assemble an emergency kit for your family in the event of power outage or evacuation
• Empower your family to stay safe and remain calm in an emergency by learning how to make and practice an emergency plan

We love apps that make the world a better, safer place. Let's hope this app can save lives in the future.