Around 2012, when I had been working for the Shoreline Fire Department for over 10 years, the department’s Public Information Officer asked me to teach some disaster-preparedness classes to the public. It was through teaching these classes that I realized the citizens I served as a firefighter needed to know more than the basic list of supplies to have on hand if disaster strikes.
With each class I taught, more and more attendees told me they didn’t know how to shut off their basic utilities. Most of them could not even locate the shutoffs. While knowing how to shut off your utilities may not seem like necessary know-how, it can be vital to keeping people and property safe.
When 911 can’t come
Typically, if a resident or property owner has a water leak, a smoking electrical outlet, or smells natural gas in the home, that person will simply call 911, and a few helpful people will respond in minutes to handle the situation. In those typical scenarios, the person doesn’t need to know how to handle the property’s utilities, because someone is available to handle it for them.
The problem comes when an area is experiencing a high volume of 911 calls, which means local emergency resources are overwhelmed and unable to respond quickly, or at all, to those typical utility calls. Water flowing inside a property will cause significant damage while a resident waits for responders. The smell of flammable gas could lead to devastating results for the property, the surrounding properties, or even the friends and family members inside.
Knowing how to shut off a property’s utilities can save a property, a neighborhood, or a life.
In the midst of a disaster, when 911 response times to individual properties are exceptionally long, it can be too late to learn about utility shutoffs in the moment. I realized through my experience on the job that this knowledge has never been necessary for most people, nor has it been made readily available in a convenient way. That is when I came up with the idea for Dwell Secure: an app that lets people store and access vital utility shutoff information and other important property data.
From an idea to an app
The idea for Dwell Secure had been kicked around for several years. The first version is free and available for download, and lets you mark the locations of your utilities and store photos of them.
The next version, being built now, will help manage a property owner’s entire property. You will be able to enter and store all of a property’s systems: mark utility locations, store important photos, enter the make and model of equipment, set reminders to service that equipment, and store the contact information for the company or person who does the servicing.
Dwell Secure will remind you to change smoke detector batteries, furnace filters and water filters, clean gutters, flush tankless water heaters, service sprinkler systems and irrigation systems, and tend to any other system on a property. This information will not only provide a hub of information for any authorized person, it will help preserve the life of a property.
Why it matters to me
Through my experience as a firefighter, I have learned how to help people in urgent situations. While it is my job to help people during these times, first responders like me may not be readily available when a widespread emergency strikes an area. Dwell Secure is an app that empowers property owners to secure their properties and safeguard them from disaster.
Editor’s note, 2026: Everything Andrew described here has since shipped, along with emergency guides, floor-plan maps and secure sharing. Read the rest of the story.
