Watch Duty’s toughest fire season yet (Watch Duty CEO John Mills)
About John
- Co-founder & CEO of Watch Duty, the #1 disaster info app in Jan 2025 surpassing ChatGPT downloads
- Created Watch Duty, relied on by tens of millions and emergency agencies across 22 US states (2025)
- Secured $2M grant from Google.org (2024) and raised $3.5M in 60 days during LA fires
- Previously founded and served as CTO of Zenput, acquired in 2022
- 30+ years software experience; pioneered tech for real-time wildfire and disaster alerts
It’s only mid-August, and Watch Duty CEO John Mills says on Rapid Response that it’s only going to get worse. With British Columbia under a province-wide state of emergency and Spokane still reeling from the most destructive wildfire in Washington state history, Mills joins Rapid Response to take us inside the most catastrophic fire season his team has ever faced. Since the LA wildfires made Watch Duty a household name, the nonprofit has doubled its headcount and revenue — growth Mills describes as a little too wild for comfort. He talks about the decision to expand into flood monitoring across all 50 states, the controversial partnership with Ring cameras, and what it actually takes to scale a life-saving operation without investors, a cap table, or the luxury of getting it wrong.
