What this site is

A mobile-first, no-account smoke reporting tool for the Lake Tahoe basin. In three taps a citizen files a directional report — bearing, estimated distance, severity, and a required photo — and it appears on a public live map alongside ALERTCalifornia camera feeds and EPA AirNow stations from Tahoe through Reno and Carson City.

Why it exists

Official perimeters and satellite hotspots can lag by hours. Cell towers congest the moment something goes wrong. The first useful signal in a Tahoe ignition is almost always a human on a ridge saying “I see a column over there.” We built I SEE SMOKE so that signal is captured, geo-anchored, and shared in seconds instead of group texts.

How it helps the boots on the ground

Designed as a one-way consumer tool, not a dispatch platform. Every report is clearly labeled as an unverified citizen observation — never confused with an official agency update.

• Pre-ignition awareness. Multiple sightings from different angles help locate a smoke column before agencies send crews.
• Pre-positioning. Pattern analysis on Red Flag days highlights the micro-corridors where wind is consistently funneling — strike teams stage closer, response times compress.
• Public smoke map during planned burns. The live map gives residents and land managers the same ground-level signal, which can reduce duplicate calls and social-media speculation while a burn is active.
• Low-bandwidth mode. A text-only, no-thumbnail view of reports and camera feeds keeps the dashboard usable on congested mountain LTE or weak satellite links during an active event.
• Evacuation visibility. During an active event, citizen reports along Hwy 50, 89, and 267 surface which corridors are going zero-visibility.

Built for mountain-town reality

• Extreme image compression at the edge for congested LTE.
• Compass-bearing capture so a photo of a 15-mile-away plume maps as a vector, not a pin on the reporter.
• EXIF and home-address scrubbing on every submission.
• Server-side moderation, device blocklist, and an admin layer that can remove inaccurate or duplicate reports before they cause “smoke column panic.”

What agencies can plug into today

• Public live map at /dashboard — embed-friendly, no login.
• Regional air-quality view at /air-quality — Tahoe Basin, Truckee/Donner, Reno/Carson stations.
• Resource directory at /tahoe-fire-guide.
• A weekly digest and a public GeoJSON feed of citizen reports are on the near-term roadmap for agency partners that want a structured pipe.

Who built it & how to reach us

I SEE SMOKE is built and maintained by www.digi-journeyman.com. We're actively looking for fire-service input on what citizen data is actually useful at the IC table — and what to leave out.

Have feedback or want to partner? Contact us.