Download from AppStore
Free
iPhone / iPad
Genres:
  • Weather
  • Utilities
App profile

Subscribe to our newsletter:

Follow us on Flipboard
Flipboard

Wildfires by American Red Cross app review: learn what to do before, during, and after wildfires

Reviews

Introduction

Here we have yet another invaluable app by American Red Cross, this time providing a wealth of information to improve your preparedness for wildfires, as well as offering news headlines related to wildfires and notifications of wildfires reported in your area.

This is a must-have app for anyone who lives in an area that is susceptible to wildfires; following the usual format of their safety and preparedness apps, the American Red Cross has done a great job of clearly laying out all of the information you could need in addition to a range of great feature.

Wildfires by American Red Cross

Free

Keep Your Family Safe

I’m always impressed with American Red Cross apps and I think they provide a great service to families in helping them to keep safe when disaster strikes.

This app features step-by-step guides so you can learn how to respond to a wildfire. The information is stored locally within the app so you can access it even if your Internet connection goes down. Being able to read these guides offline is obviously very valuable because you never know when the power is going to be affected.

This app really does cover everything; if things get really bad, you can use this app to find open Red Cross shelters in your local area and you can also easily access your state’s 511 network for traffic updates if you need to evacuate the area.

We would hope that you’ll never actually need to use this app but I would definitely recommend keeping it installed on one of your iOS devices just to be on the safe side; there are loads of useful little features which really bring this app into a league of its own, including a toolkit equipped with a flashlight, strobe light, and audio alerts so you can inform people of your location.

I especially like the “I’m Safe” feature which is a small thumbs-up button in the corner which you can tap to let everyone know you’re safe. You can broadcast this personalized message via Facebook, Twitter, text message, and email.

A great way of getting the kids involved and making them more safety-conscious is to show them the test which you can use to assess your knowledge of wildfire-related trivia, as well as covering matters of general preparedness; just be sure to take the tests yourself because completing them will unlock badges which you can share online to prove your understanding of how to deal with wildfires.

Wildfires by American Red Cross

Free

Pros and Cons

Pros

  • A wealth of information to prepare you for dealing with wildfires
  • Toolkit including a flashlight, strobe light, and audio alert function
  • “I’m Safe” button enables you to let everyone know you’re okay
  • Variety of tests allow you to check your understanding of wildfires and unlock badges based on your performance

Cons

  • There is nothing negative to say about this app

Final Words

Great job as always, American Red Cross!

From what I’ve been able to ascertain, all of the alerts and notifications I’ve received have been very prompt and accurate, and I’ve found the app itself to be incredibly easy to navigate because the content is laid out so clearly.

Simply put, this is one of those apps that should maintain a permanent spot on your iPhone or iPad because it takes up minimal space on your device but could end up saving the lives of you and your family, should a wildfire happen.

Wildfires by American Red Cross

Free
Share this article:

MarkBangs

Mark is an opinionated writer who loves to review apps. In 2012, he started reviewing Apple apps on a regular basis and wonders how he survived up to that point without these apps.