The Los Angeles app developer is compelled to employ his own technology to cope with the wildfires.

• Originally designed for remote travelers, GOES Health is now being used by individuals affected by climate disasters.
• The technology chief of the company resides in Los Angeles and had to utilize the app he developed to manage the fires.
• The usage of GOES in the area has increased by approximately 800% since January 6th, the day before the LA fires began, according to the company.

Viktor Makarskyy has been developing an app for over two years that acts as a digital survival kit for individuals in disaster zones, which are becoming increasingly common due to climate change.

He never thought his job and personal life would intersect so deeply.

Makarskyy and his wife were on an anniversary trip in the Cascade Mountains when an evacuation order for the Sunset Fire was issued, just a few blocks from their apartment in Los Angeles.

Their cat and critical belongings were in danger as Makarskyy feared the fire would reach their home before they could rescue them.

"Makarskyy explained to CNBC in an interview on Friday that while viewing images online can be informative, it is a completely different experience to see it in person and have a multisensory experience of the cabin smelling like smoke as you land. This was like entering a war zone for him."

Makarskyy serves as the technology head at GOES, a 2021 startup that offers critical health advice and services, primarily in remote areas. The GOES Health app, accessible to aid workers and adventurous travelers, provides prompt localized guidance on managing various health issues, including bug and animal bites, altitude sickness, rashes, and more.

Wilderness medicine doctors have provided hikers with information on how to assess hypothermia risk and backpackers with guidance on preparing for heat waves or treating broken bones. The app's content is approved by medical professionals and can be accessed offline, except for real-time weather and wildlife risk index.

As urban areas face increasing threats from natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and catastrophic fires, the relevance of GOES, or Global Outdoor Emergency Support, is expanding. In the two weeks leading up to the LA fires, GOES usage in the area increased by 800%, and the number of new users in California tripled.

The fires in LA, which began on Monday, have resulted in the deaths of at least 24 individuals, destroyed entire neighborhoods, and burned thousands of homes and structures. No cause for the largest fires has been identified yet.

Makarskyy revealed that he employs GOES to monitor air quality, national alerts, and wildfire readiness guides, among other things. At home, he was taken aback to discover that although a popular weather app indicated the air quality near Los Angeles International Airport to be "moderate," a more precise hyperlocal measurement using GOES revealed that the air quality was significantly worse.

He, being the developer of the app, knew it provided precise latitude and longitude.

The Watch Duty app, founded in 2021 and developed by a nonprofit group, has become a must-have in the LA area since the fires erupted. It was the top free app on iOS for much of last week and was still in the top five on Monday, providing LA residents with a precise reading on where fires are burning and spreading, which neighborhoods are in evacuation zones and the location of power outages.

On Friday, Watch Duty posted on X, stating that their systems are fully operational despite their radio operators taking shifts and their engineers working tirelessly to maintain a response time of less than 20 ms for up to 100,000 requests per second.

Firefighters, dispatchers, and first responders created Watch Duty to share fire-related information, while GOES accidentally entered the fire safety industry.

In 2023, Dr. Grant Lipman, a former Stanford Emergency Medicine professor and director of its wilderness medicine fellowship, founded a company after treating a hiker in critical condition due to a rattlesnake bite and recognizing the need to make wilderness medicine more accessible.

'The outdoors is changing'

Camilo Barcenas, co-founder and CEO of GOES, spent years in the health-care industry and worked for four years overseeing technology at Stanford Adult Hospital. In 2019, he and his team began working on the GOES project, interviewing people from North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East about what would have made them feel safer and more prepared when traveling off the grid.

He stated that their realization was that the health care system is "systematically broken," and the only way to improve it is by teaching people to take care of themselves first.

"We created this because we believe that everyone should have access to this information," Barcenas stated. "The environment is evolving, and we must comprehend the associated risks to improve our actions."

Barcenas stated that during Hurricane Helene's impact on North Carolina in September, he flew to inform residents and aid groups about the platform's usefulness in climate disasters.

"The LA wildfires underscore the trend we've been observing: the democratization of wilderness medicine for urban survival," Barcenas stated. "During environmental crises, traditional emergency services and healthcare facilities are frequently overwhelmed or inaccessible."

Makarskyy checked national alerts within GOES before returning to LA, including high-wind advisories, air quality, and the location of wildfires. Each alert provided content written by wilderness medicine doctors on preparation and mitigation techniques.

He studied "breathing problem scenarios" alerts and discovered that N95 masks are the only effective protection against extremely small particulate matter.

"Instead of purchasing typical surgical masks, Makarskyy opted to buy the appropriate product to safeguard our lungs in this environment."

Makarskyy stated that he and his wife were fortunate not to have to evacuate as the fires were far enough away, but close enough that on Friday morning they woke up to ash coating their car. The closest fire had been contained, and their cat was safe with them.

The GOES app offers some free features, such as checking air quality and sunburn risk in your location and receiving extreme weather advisories. For additional features, including pocket safety guide information, subscribers can pay $6 per month or $36 per year.

Since its launch less than two years ago, the app has undergone significant evolution, and Barcenas announced that many new features are on the horizon.

""Originally designed for outdoor adventurers to prepare for trips and manage wilderness medical emergencies with offline, visual first-aid guides, GOES is now being used by urban residents to understand their outdoor health risks and navigate emergencies during environmental crises," Barcenas said."

Insurers will face a $20 billion plus loss due to California wildfires, according to Wells Fargo's Elyse Greenspan.