Volunteer-run Wildfire Watch app reaches 150,000 users in southern Spain, eyes national rollout

In 2012 a major wildfire near the town of Coin prompted Jill Leonard to create a single online hub for fire information, eventually evolving into Wildfire Watch Spain. After a decade of managing separate groups across the Iberian Peninsula, she partnered with Dutch software developer Bas Buur, who launched the free app in 2021 and initially covered all costs himself. The service, now used by more than 150,000 individuals in Andalucía, Valencia and Murcia, allows users to post fire sightings, upload images and receive alerts that are automatically translated between Spanish and English.

It aggregates these crowd-sourced reports with updates from regional firefighting agencies like INFOCA, though there is no official collaboration agreement. The app proved especially valuable during the Los Gallardos fire in Almería, where volunteers recall numerous messages that helped people escape, even as some victims, such as Annette Kilgore, were lost. Operating costs are sustained by donations, and a team of seven volunteers, including Leonard, moderates content to remove speculation and abuse. Expansion across Spain faces challenges related to public awareness and the workload required for moderation, but the creators remain confident that broader adoption could save more lives.