🚩 Red Flag Check · Public API

Free, no-auth, CORS-enabled. Integrate into a county website, school-district page, mutual-aid app, or news widget. Cached at the edge for 60 seconds.

What this API gives you that the raw NWS API doesn't: address-based lookup (geocoded for you), a yes/no Red Flag verdict for that address, tonight's wind/RH forecast at the point, ready-to-display plain-English action checklists differentiated for in-zone / adjacent / out-of-zone, pre-built Genasys evacuation-zone deeplinks, and stable JSON contracts.

Important for integrators: NWS Red Flag Warning polygons are advisory, not boundaries that stop fire. Wind-driven fires (1991 Oakland Hills, 2023 Lahaina, 2025 Palisades) routinely pushed past nominal polygons. The out_of_zone category does not mean fire-safe. The action-checklist text returned by the API reflects this and surfaces fire-season-preparedness language even for out-of-zone results. If you display the verdict in your own UI, please retain the framing or surface an equivalent disclaimer. We owe users accuracy more than reassurance.

Base URL

https://redflag-check.info/api/v1

All endpoints return JSON. No API key required. Open CORS (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *). Cached for 60 seconds at the Vercel edge.

OpenAPI 3.1 spec: https://redflag-check.info/openapi.yaml

Open it interactively (no signup, no install):

Open in Swagger Editor — try every endpoint live in the browser
Browse with Redoc — clean reference docs
Import to Postman
Generate a client in any language with openapi-generator-cli generate -i https://redflag-check.info/openapi.yaml -g <your-language>

6 endpoints · 18 schemas · full parameter docs and response examples included.

Endpoints

GET/api/v1/zone-check

Check whether a Red Flag Warning currently covers a specific address or coordinate. Returns the verdict, the active alert(s), tonight's wind + humidity forecast at that point, a differentiated action checklist, and pre-built evacuation-zone links.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`address`	Either this OR lat+lng	Full US address. Geocoded via US Census.
`lat`	If no address	Latitude in decimal degrees.
`lng`	If no address	Longitude in decimal degrees.

Example

curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/zone-check?address=12250+Skyline+Blvd,+Oakland,+CA'

Response (abbreviated)

{
  "input": { "address": "12250 Skyline Blvd, Oakland, CA", "lat_requested": null, "lng_requested": null },
  "location": { "lat": 37.7811, "lng": -122.1556, "matched_address": "12250 SKYLINE BLVD, OAKLAND, CA, 94619" },
  "in_red_flag_zone": true,
  "alerts": [{
    "event": "Red Flag Warning",
    "headline": "Red Flag Warning issued for [the warning area]...",
    "starts": "2026-06-10T23:00:00-07:00",
    "ends": "2026-06-11T09:00:00-07:00",
    "instruction": "A Red Flag Warning means..."
  }],
  "forecast": {
    "tonight": { "max_wind_mph": 45, "min_humidity_pct": 14, "summary": "Windy" },
    "next_24h": [ ... ]
  },
  "action_checklist": {
    "category": "in_zone",
    "do_now": [ "Charge your phone...", "Park your car facing OUTWARD...", ... ],
    "do_not": [ "Do NOT mow dry grass.", ... ],
    "if_evacuation_called": [ ... ]
  },
  "links": {
    "genasys_evacuation_zone_lookup": "https://protect.genasys.com/search?lat=...",
    "official_ac_alert_signup": "https://www.ready.gov/alerts",
    "watch_duty": "https://www.watchduty.org",
    "airnow_fire_map": "https://fire.airnow.gov/"
  },
  "sources": [ "NWS api.weather.gov", "US Census geocoder", "Genasys Protect" ],
  "disclaimer": "Informational only...",
  "generated_at": "2026-06-08T..."
}

GET/api/v1/status

All active Red Flag Warnings in California (or any US state via ?area=...). Useful for news widgets, county PIO dashboards, or any system that just wants the raw list of current RFWs.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`area`	No	`CA`	Two-letter US state code (e.g., `CA`, `NV`, `OR`).

Example

curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/status'

GET/api/v1/schools

Find schools near a point, or search all California public schools by name. Server-side lookup over the full California Department of Education public-school directory (~10.5k active schools) plus an individually-verified curated set — the whole list is never shipped to the client. Every result carries an id for use with /school-status.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`lat`, `lng`	For a radius query	Return schools near this point, nearest first, each with `distance_mi`.
`radius_mi`	No	Radius in miles (default 10, max 60). Auto-expands where schools are sparse; caps where dense.
`q`	For a name search	Match by name or city, tokenized so word order doesn't matter — for open-enrollment / magnet / boarding cases.

With no parameters, returns only the curated, individually-verified set (backward compatible).

Examples

curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/schools?lat=32.7157&lng=-117.1611&radius_mi=10'
curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/schools?q=Torrey+Pines'

GET/api/v1/school-status

Per-school decision view. Returns the zone status at the school's address, tonight's wind+humidity forecast, and a recommended-action level (normal / modify_outdoor / indoors_only / consider_closure) with rationale citing CIF AQI thresholds.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`id`	Yes	School id from `/api/v1/schools`.

Example

curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/school-status?id=skyline-oakland'

GET/api/v1/buddy-template

Generate a check-in template for a neighbor / vulnerable contact: ready-to-send iMessage text, mailto link, downloadable .ics calendar reminder, and (if friend coords provided) their Red Flag zone status. Built for mutual-aid networks and community organizers.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`name`	No	"your neighbor"	Friend's first name.
`time`	No	22:30 PT today	ISO 8601 reminder time.
`friend_lat`	No	none	Friend's latitude (for zone lookup).
`friend_lng`	No	none	Friend's longitude.

Example

curl 'https://redflag-check.info/api/v1/buddy-template?name=Jane&friend_lat=37.7811&friend_lng=-122.1556'

GET/api/v1/health

Service health + upstream API status. Useful for integrators to monitor.

Embed widget

Drop this iframe into any web page. It works on county sites, school district pages, news articles, anywhere:

<iframe src="https://redflag-check.info/embed/zone-check"
  width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0"
  style="max-width:480px;border-radius:12px;"></iframe>

Sets X-Frame-Options: ALLOWALL + permissive CSP so it embeds anywhere.

Rate limits + caching

No formal rate limit at this tier. We cache aggressively at the Vercel edge (60s).
If you're doing high-volume scheduled polling (more than ~1 req/sec sustained), email vedant28t [at] gmail [dot] com so we can plan capacity.
If the NWS upstream is degraded, we'll return a 502 with details. Check /api/v1/health.

License + attribution

API responses are public-domain data (NWS, US Census). The wrapper, UX, and aggregation are MIT-licensed. Attribution appreciated but not required.

Source code

github.com/vedant-f-is-ma/redflag-check. Open PRs welcome.

Contact

Built by a Fremont high schooler in 48 hours. Reach out: vedant28t [at] gmail [dot] com (replace [at]/[dot], or click; the link is encoded against scrapers)

Informational only. NOT an official emergency service. For official alerts, sign up for your local emergency alerts. In case of fire, call 911. See the full Terms of Use & Disclaimer.