An ‘app’ropriate selection

Longtime Mariposa resident and reporter Trisha Jacobs was recognized for her contributions to the community with a certificate of appreciation signed by the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors.

Jacobs is well known and respected locally for her work on the fire safety app Watch Duty and remains an admin on the established Facebook page, Mountain Fire and Emergency.

In a document dated Aug. 18, the board acknowledged Jacobs for “her professionalism, responsiveness and accurate real-time fire information provided through Watch Duty.”

They said Jacobs’ “timely updates have been vital in keeping our community informed and reassured during critical incidents. Trisha’s dedication and integrity greatly contribute to the safety and wellbeing of Mariposa County.”

Jacobs’ first foray into the world of fire came as a result of location, location, location. She moved from the Midwest to California in the early 1990s, living and working in Yosemite National Park.

“I had never even heard of wildfires but found myself in the middle of two fires that inundated the Yosemite Valley with smoke,” Jacobs said. “We were unable to get any information except what was shared on the news twice a day — it was frustrating!”

Over the years, more fires and even floods altered the landscape but the stream of information was often murky. Jacobs shared whatever accurate news she could find.

“At first that was via my personal Facebook page and on Facebook groups in Mariposa and other nearby counties,” she recalled. “Then I expanded to Twitter and monitoring wildfires across the West Coast.”

That’s when she was invited to become an admin on the Mountain Fire and Emergency Group.

“A few of us started sharing information and discussing our reporting values in a group chat on Twitter. This is how John Clark Mills — who was looking for people like us to come work at the app he developed, Watch Duty — found me. Eventually, I joined as a volunteer reporter at Watch Duty.”

Reporting values are an ethics-based code of conduct adopted by professional reporters.

Operated by a nonprofit, Watch Duty is a real-time wildfire and flood tracking alert platform. It uses a combination of official data sources and human monitoring by experienced volunteers including active and retired firefighters, dispatchers and first responders.

“Watch Duty kept expanding,” Jacobs said. “First across California, then the West Coast and now we cover all 50 states. Being a volunteer there has been one of the best experiences of my life. Everyone has the same drive to provide fast, accurate, life-saving information to communities and the teamwork is top notch.”

In 2025, Watch Duty had 48 full-time employees and about 250 volunteers who reported on more than 13,000 wildfires, according to its annual report. In 2026, Watch Duty announced it now covers major flooding events.

After putting in significant time as a volunteer, and while on the lookout for a new job in 2025, Jacobs was offered a paid position at Watch Duty as a staff reporter.

And she continues to do admin work for Mountain Fire and Emergency on Facebook, “because I love my admin family.” The group has more than 26,000 members and “is a foundation for how other groups are run.”

Coming full circle

“Reporting on the Dome Fire in Yosemite this year has been a full-circle moment in my life,” Jacobs shared. “My story started in Yosemite searching for information that wasn’t easy to find. Now I can send notifications directly to people’s phones via Watch Duty and people don’t have to be in the dark anymore when a wildfire is in their area.”

Some of her motivation comes from personal experience.

“I’ve been evacuated at least 10 times, probably more. Many of us at Watch Duty have experienced wildfire or major flood incidents first-hand and that’s why we have a connection to this work and what drives us every day.”

The fire that affected Jacobs most personally was the Detwiler Fire in July and August of 2017. Detwiler burned more than 80,000 acres and destroyed 134 structures. Some 4,000-5,000 residents were displaced during the blaze which officials said started with a discharge of firearms on public lands.

“We were evacuated because the fire was threatening the town of Mariposa. As I drove away from my home, I truly wondered if I’d ever see it again. As I left Mariposa, driving up Spring Hill, I stopped on the side of the road, looked back and saw the fire encroaching on the town. I didn’t expect the town or my home to survive.”

Not long after, volunteers opened a relief center at New Life Christian Fellowship where Jacobs spent many days helping neighbors recover from the fire.

“Almost all of the families that lost their homes to that fire came to the center and we sat alongside them and cried with them. I’ll never forget that.”

Among the most challenging aspects of the job is listening to radio traffic during emergencies. Not only does it sound like gibberish to an untrained ear, but what can be heard is sometimes devastating.

“We can hear some hard things, and it brings home the danger of wildfire both for civilians and for firefighters. After 15-plus years of doing this and being a part of the wildfire family, anytime we learn of a ‘line of duty death,’ it cuts me to the core.”

People often underestimate how much investigation and teamwork go into accurate fire reporting, Jacobs said.

“You may see one person as the ‘voice’ of a fire or emergency in a group or on Watch Duty, but there are many people behind the scenes doing the work. They’re listening to radio traffic, scrolling social media, checking websites and sometimes talking directly with officials. There’s no way just one person could do everything that goes into monitoring fires and emergencies — it takes a team.”

It’s the team that Jacobs said is the best thing about her career — the people she works with.

“The Mountain Fire and Emergency admin team is my family,” she said. “We talk every single day behind the scenes and we’ve been through a lot together over the past eight years. The Watch Duty team is some of the most amazing people on this planet, with huge hearts dedicated to serving their communities.”

A huge honor

Jacobs said being recognized by the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors was “a huge honor and it genuinely means a lot.”

“What made it even more meaningful was that two of the supervisors are people I’ve known for many years. I met Rosemarie Smallcombe during the (2013) Rim Fire when we were collecting supplies for fire survivors. Another I’ve known for more than 20 years, Jenni Kiser. We met when our kids were in kindergarten. There’s a lot of history and heart behind this for me.”

Jacobs noted that Supervisor Shannon Poe represents the district covering the northern part of Mariposa County, “which is incredibly remote and has a lot of technological dead space.”

It’s a vulnerable community, she said, and for many years she’s made it a personal mission to help get emergency information to the people living there through social media and Watch Duty.

With all she’s given to the foothills, Jacobs was grateful to receive the BOS recognition.

“Mariposa County is where I raised my kids. It’s where I got started, and no matter where I live it will always be my hometown. Being recognized by the community that means so much to me is something I will never take for granted.”

Visit www.watchduty.org and www.facebook.com/groups/MFandE for more information.