Case Study: CAL FIRE helps Californians prepare for wildfires with Exygy's Ready for Wildfire app

CAL FIRE launches Ready for Wildfire with Exygy, driving 1.2 million text alerts in 120 days

CAL FIRE, California's state fire agency, faced the challenge of keeping residents accurately informed during increasingly severe wildfire seasons. Unverified information from social media and local news was putting people at risk. They engaged the vendor Exygy, along with Sagent Marketing, to redesign their Ready for Wildfire mobile app to provide a trusted source of critical information.

Exygy applied human-centered design principles, conducting user research and prototyping to create a more accessible and intuitive solution. The redesigned Ready for Wildfire app provides validated incident data and preparedness plans, with features like text alerts and offline access to serve diverse communities. Following its launch, the app saw over 1,500 accounts register in its first month, with 86% of users creating readiness plans. The system also sent over 1.2 million crucial text messages to subscribers during the 2020 wildfire season.

CAL FIRE