Comparison

Wildfire Aware® vs Tower 5

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Wildfire Aware®

This app offers an interactive map to monitor wildfires with real-time satellite detection and incident data. It provides environmental overlays and near-real-time notifications for areas you care about, including fire weather information.

Highlights
  • Interactive wildfire map
  • Satellite detection layers
  • Detailed incident information
  • Environmental overlays
  • Near-real-time notifications
  • Fire weather information
Features
Read full description

Wildfire Aware® provides an interactive map-centric experience free to the public. It serves as a central hub for authoritative information, consolidating multiple data streams into a single interface for easier monitoring. *Satellite Detection Layers: Real-time visualization of thermal hotspots from NASA VIIRS, MODIS, and NOAA HMS Fire Detections. *Detailed Incident Information: View updated perimeters from FIRIS (California only) and other state/federal agencies as they become available. *Environmental Overlays: Review National Weather Service (NWS) watches and warnings directly on the map alongside active fire data. As a Premium feature of Wildfire Aware®, we provide near-real-time notifications of wildfires in areas you care about. When a fire is dispatched by a NIFC participating agency anywhere in the United States, you are notified as quickly as possible. We provide wildfire alerts quickly and supplement them with the most current Fire Weather information, including Temperature, Wind Speed and Direction, and Relative Humidity at the time of the fire. As fires burn for days or months, Wildfire Aware not only provides you with notifications about perimeter updates but also provides authoritative supplemental agency data as well. Letting you know where the fire is. We source information from NIFC, IRWIN, InciWeb, CAL FIRE, US Forest Service (USFS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Department on Interior (DOI), and Texas A&M Forest Service, to name a few. Anyone who has lived through a fire knows that Fire Weather is just as important as fire information. Wildfire Aware provides you with National Weather Service (NWS) Alerts related to Wildfires as soon as they are issued. From Fire Weather Watches and Red Flag Warnings before a fire, to Flash Flood Warnings and Watches after a fire, we keep you wildfire aware at all stages of a wildfire. Wildfire alerting for Canada is now available for Canada! We provided as much of the equivalency information as possible for Canadian Wildfires as well. The reported active fire locations are updated daily as provided by fire management agencies (provinces, territories and Parks Canada). The wildfires data is managed through a national Data Integration Project (DIP) coordinated by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and Natural Resources Canada with participation from all partner agencies. Environment and Climate Change Canada issues public weather alerts about weather-related hazards in order to notify those in affected areas so that they can take steps to protect themselves and their property from harm. Alerts are classified depending on the severity and timing of the subject event and include warnings, watches, advisories and statements. We do not provide detailed information from radio traffic like Watch Duty, but instead, we provide information from authoritative sources as soon as it is published. We also provide links, whenever possible, to the appropriate social media platforms for additional authoritative data. We strive to give the most reliable information to the public as quickly as possible. Our founder not only survived a deadly and destructive fire in 2020 but also spent 13 years with CAL FIRE as a dispatcher and GIS specialist. Wildfire Aware® provides authoritative and vetted information, which is essential during any wildfire. When misinformation runs rampant during and after a wildfire, we strive to give you the most authoritative information available. Important Wildfire Aware® is an information aggregation platform. All data—including fire locations, perimeters, and weather conditions—is sourced from third-party public agencies. This information is provided "as is" for situational awareness only. Wildfire Aware® does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of notifications and should not be relied upon as a primary life-safety tool. Users should always follow the instructions of local emergency management and law enforcement.

About

Tower 5

Understand wildfire risk with real-time data on active fires, smoke plumes, and weather warnings. Generate detailed risk profiles for any U.S. address, including historical data and future climate projections. Essential for homeowners, professionals, and anyone concerned about fire safety.

Highlights
  • Live wildfire perimeters
  • Satellite hot-spot detections
  • Fire weather warnings
  • Smoke plume tracking
  • 96-hour rainfall timeline
  • Property wildfire risk profiles
  • Historical fire data
Read full description

Tower 5 is the easiest way to understand wildfire risk in your neighborhood — and across the United States. Whether you own a home in a fire-prone area, work in insurance underwriting, or just want to know when smoke is coming, Tower 5 puts the same federal data fire managers rely on into one map you can actually read. LIVE WILDFIRE INTELLIGENCE - Active fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center - Satellite hot-spot detections from NASA FIRMS, refreshed throughout the day - Fire weather warnings from the National Weather Service - Smoke plumes from NOAA's Hazard Mapping System - A 96-hour rainfall timeline (past 24h to next 72h) - Real-time air temperature and surface wind across the country WILDFIRE RISK CONTEXT - Historical fire perimeters going back over a century - U.S. Drought Monitor severity, refreshed weekly - Tap any location to see every signal stacked in one popup PROPERTY RISK PROFILE Search any U.S. address to generate a comprehensive wildfire-risk profile: - Wildfire Hazard Potential rating - Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) classification - Future climate-adjusted burn probability - Surface fuel model — what would carry a fire here - Historical fires within 16 miles - Closest fire stations, hospitals, evacuation shelters Profiles are saved to your account so you can compare properties or revisit them later. PREMIUM (OPTIONAL) Tower 5 Premium unlocks advanced map layers — Hazard Potential, Future Risk, Energy Release Component, Surface Fuel Models, Wind, Drought, Hospitals, Shelters, and Power Lines — plus unlimited saved property profiles and PDF/CSV export. 7-day free trial, then $9.99/month. Subscription is managed at tower5.org/upgrade. WHO IT'S FOR - Homeowners in fire-prone areas - Insurance underwriters and risk analysts - Real estate buyers researching a property - Land managers and emergency planners - Anyone who's ever wondered "how close is that fire?" DATA SOURCES National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), NASA FIRMS, NOAA, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey, LANDFIRE, National Weather Service, U.S. Drought Monitor, USGS SILVIS Lab, Department of Energy / HSIP. Per-layer attribution is available inside the app. LIMITATIONS Tower 5 is informational only. The app does not replace Wireless Emergency Alerts, NWS broadcasts, or guidance from your local fire authority. Always cross-check critical decisions with official sources. PRIVACY Tower 5 collects only the minimum data needed to authenticate your account and run your risk profiles. We do not sell user data. No third-party advertising SDKs. Privacy policy: https://tower5.org/privacy Terms of service: https://tower5.org/terms

Screenshots

Wildfire Aware®4 screens
Tower 53 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Tower 5 at 5.0 against Wildfire Aware®'s 4.5. Tower 5 also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). Wildfire Aware®'s advantage is ratings volume (24 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). On price, ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Wildfire Aware® sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Tower 5 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Tower 5 holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wildfire Aware® has 24 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wildfire Aware® ships an update every 6 weeks, Tower 5 fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Wildfire Aware® versus Tower 5: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWildfire Aware®Tower 5
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (24 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews97.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings24 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size56 MB32 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperThe Analytical Moose LLCSnoflo.org LLC

Bugs and requests

Wildfire Aware®

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Extremely slow and constantly freezes
  • Crashes multiple times
  • Took forever to load during a wildfire

Requested features

1 request
  • Reintroduce wind streams overlay on the map

Tower 5

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Wildfire Aware®

Subscriptions4
  • Wildfire Aware Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Wildfire Aware$2.991 Month
  • Wildfire Aware Yearly$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Wildfire Aware$19.991 Year
None

Tower 5

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wildfire Aware® free?
Wildfire Aware® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tower 5 free?
Tower 5 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wildfire Aware® or Tower 5?
Tower 5 is rated higher. Wildfire Aware® averages 4.5 out of 5 from 24 ratings, while Tower 5 averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Wildfire Aware® or Tower 5 have ads?
Neither Wildfire Aware® nor Tower 5 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wildfire Aware® or Tower 5?
Wildfire Aware® ships an update every 6 weeks, and Tower 5 fortnightly. Most recently, Wildfire Aware® was updated on October 24, 2026 and Tower 5 on October 28, 2026.

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