No. SmokeBearing estimates the position of smoke you see, using the same cross-bearing method fire lookout towers have used for a century. This is a rough estimate; error grows with distance. Always follow official emergency information for evacuation and reporting decisions. Do not rely on this app alone to identify fires or direct emergency response.

Uncertainty grows with distance. A 1 degree compass error becomes 18 m at 1 km away, but 180 m at 10 km away. The uncertainty fan shows the honest range of possible positions. More bearings from different locations can tighten the cross and reduce uncertainty.

Wind data comes from Open-Meteo at the estimated smoke position. It shows which way the smoke is drifting, so you can estimate where the fire actually is relative to where the smoke appears. Wind is the ground-level snapshot at that moment; it does not predict how the fire will spread.

All observations, fixes, and photos are stored only on your device. Nothing is uploaded to any server. The app sends only the estimated position coordinates to Open-Meteo to fetch wind data; no personal information is sent. If you delete the app, your data is deleted with it.

Yes. The bearing fix—the core function—works fully offline. Wind data is optional; if you have no internet connection, the wind layer simply does not appear. Positions are still estimated and displayed accurately.