Leadership

John Mills, CEO & Cofounder of Watch Duty

John Mills

CEO & Co-founder
David Merritt, CTO & Cofounder of Watch Duty

David Merritt

CTO & Co-founder
Brian Harris, CPO of Watch Duty

Brian Harris

CPO

Product & Engineering

Andrew Liebchen

Product Design

LinkedIn

Gabe Schine

Engineering

LinkedIn

Damian Bourne

Engineering

LinkedIn

Devin Dombrowski

Engineering

LinkedIn

Geoff Donaldson

Engineering

LinkedIn

Nick Russell

Engineering

LinkedIn

Chris Foster

Engineering

LinkedIn

David Watkins

Engineering

LinkedIn

Founding Team

Lukas Bergstrom

Product Cofounder

LinkedIn

Michael Hess

Fire fighter & Engineer

LinkedIn

Cole Euken

Reporter

Damian Boune

Engineer & Reporter

LinkedIn

Josh Leone

Reporter

Sara Paul

Reporter

Advisors

Breana Teubner

Political Advisor

LinkedIn

Reporters

Damian Bouné

Damian Bouné lives in a remote region of Sonoma County and has been providing fire and emergency-related information to his community since 2017.  He is an excellent resource for building radio resource resilience and sophisticated mapping tools. He is passionate about building risk-informed communities, and frequently leaves his remote family homestead to provide the community with the tools to do so.

Corey Edwards

Corey Edwards, longtime resident of Napa Valley, has been reporting on fires for five years. When not monitoring active fires, Corey runs Napa Valley Fire and Police page, manages a computer repair business, minds his garden and tends to Patches, the elder stateswoman of his cat posse.

Cole Euken

Cole Euken has been providing information on fires for seven years, and is also a Freelance Fire/Emergency Service photographer. Cole lives in Lake County.

Evan Jacobs

Evan Jacobs lives in West Sonoma County and has been providing information on fires for four years.  He is also a volunteer firefighter, freelance fire photographer, pilot and student.

Joshua Leone

Josh Leone, a 3rd generation resident of the Russian River, is known for his reporting on fires, floods and other disasters. He is a weather watcher, a community resource for extreme weather and fire information, and loves camping with his family.He helps to manage the Russian River Resources and Information Facebook page and the Sonoma County Fire Updates page.

Sara Paul

Sara Paul manages Sonoma County Fire Updates, established on Facebook at the start of the 2017 Tubbs Fire and now a resource for vegetation fires, threatening weather and evacuation preparedness. When not reporting on fires, she might be found in the Monte Rio community garden or paddling on the Russian River.

CA Fire Scanner

CA Fire Scanner aka Michael has been reporting on wildfires in California for six fire seasons. He is based in New Zealand, so you may see more of his coverage on the night shift.

Danilla Sands

Danilla Sands lives in Mendocino County and has been working in disaster-related services since 2015. She started to relay fire information six years ago, and helps manage a community emergency information Facebook group. She is a reporter and photographer for Mendocino Action News and other news outlets.

Sekhar Padmanabhan

Sekhar Padmanabhan, aka barkflight, began covering fires and other breaking news in the early 2000s as a newspaper reporter. A lifelong Californian, he now reports on wildfires across the state on Twitter and his website. For Watch Duty, he focuses on Southern California. Sekhar serves as staff to three cats and is working towards a degree in communications.

Maureen Bonessa

Maureen Bonessa, aka MoBones, has been reporting on fires in Glenn and Tehama counties for eight years. She manages the NorCalFireWeather page on Facebook, covering fires, weather, news and other relevant information. In addition to top-notch fire reporting, she is an accomplished photographer and equestrian. Maureen lives in Red Bluff.

Kate Novoa

Also know as Bigsurkate, she lives in a remote area of Big Sur on the South Coast. She has been covering fires, floods, road closures, and local events since 2008 on her blog. She is passionate about Big Sur and protecting it and is or has been involved in many community organizations that share that goal.