Ring cameras now can tell you if a fire threatens your neighborhood

Noelle Harff, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Mar 17, 2026

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SAN DIEGO — With San Diego County under a heat advisory and fire season approaching, Ring is launching a new feature that lets neighbors and first responders share real-time wildfire information through the company’s app, the company announced Tuesday.

The new feature is called Fire Watch. Built into the Ring app, the integration combines the wildfire intelligence of Watch Duty — a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating emergency information — with on-the-ground perspectives from Ring camera owners.

The combined data works to bring real-time information to fast-moving fires.

The integration will alert homeowners if a fire breaks out nearby. It also gives users the option to share live photos and videos with neighbors and first responders during a fire.

For customers with a Ring Protect subscription — $19.99 per month, up from the basic subscription of $4.99 per month — outdoor cameras will automatically begin analyzing video for visual signs of smoke or flames. The additional alert will help residents “quickly assess the situation and take action to help protect their families and property,” the company said.

Fire Watch has already been deployed on several dozen fires and over a thousand homes, the company said in a news release.

Fire Watch will alert users when a fire is close, offering the option to share live footage with neighbors and first responders.

“Ring began with a single doorbell I built in my garage — one that was sadly lost in the Palisades fire last year,” Jamie Siminoff, chief inventor of Ring, said in the release. “While that loss is small compared to the devastation experienced by families and the lives lost, it reinforces why this work matters so deeply to me.”

The integration will be available for households in San Diego on the eve of fire season.

Wildfire conditions could ease if forecasters are right that a major El Niño — which is associated with above-average rainfall — will affect California later this year.

According to updated Cal Fire maps, San Diego County has seen a 26% increase in areas classified as “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones,” growing from about 647,000 to over 871,000 acres. More urban neighborhoods are now falling within these high-risk zones.