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How Watch Duty Became an Essential Resource for Angelenos During Wildfires: “We Get Love Letters”

The nonprofit organization, which has seen a drastic increase in users over the last week due to the L.A. fires, has a clear mission: Watch Duty right now has one purpose, and that's life and safety.

We Get Love Letters

We Get Love Letters

We get love letters, messages,
tears in the grocery aisles—
strangers pressed close,
their hearts on the verge of breaking,
the flames unseen, yet everywhere.

The sky cracks with fire,
and social media buzzes
with urgency,
download this, stay alive,
know the path of the blaze.

In just three days,
we doubled—no, tripled—
the names on our list.
A flood of souls
desperate for truth
in the heat of chaos.

It started with my own burn,
those fires that scarred Sonoma,
the Walbridge and others unnamed—
the relentless sirens,
the false alarms,
alerts with no meaning,
or worse, silence.

And I, living off-grid,
left to wonder,
where are the answers?
Why the missing words
as the flames dance,
wild and untamed?

So I climbed,
into the back of fire trucks,
my boots dusted with ash,
training with wildland warriors,
seeking politicians
who’d rather turn their backs.

No one was fixing this—
no one but me,
and those like me
chasing the truth,
one desperate search at a time.

And here we are.
Watch Duty, a small spark
in the darkened wood,
grows.

It’s not enough, it can never be—
but it’s something.
A balm for the pain,
a step toward understanding
where the fire moves,
where the danger lies,
and what is yet to come.

We’re a team—
volunteers with hearts in the fight,
paid reporters who’ve seen it all,
people who listen to the radio
as the world burns.

They’re not here for fame—
they’re here because they’ve lost too.
They know what it means to wait,
to listen, to fear
what the fire will take next.

Our words are careful,
too careful,
we don’t say everything.

We don’t share the death
that lingers in the smoke,
the names of those who fall,
the stories of those lost—
we guard them,
let the families know first,
let them grieve
without the weight of strangers' eyes.

Watch Duty is a fight
against the system,
against the lack of care
for the people who burn.
It’s not for sale,
not for profit.

I built it with my hands,
with my anger,
and my love for this land
and those who walk it with me.
It’s a torch in the night,
and it will burn
until the fire is done.

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