Laikku
A Flutter and Firebase app that shows volunteer firefighters who is on the way to the station after an alert, and when they will arrive.
Juho Torkkeli
Overview & background
We built Laikku to help volunteer firefighters coordinate during alerts.
After an alert, members often don’t know who else is on the way to the station. That uncertainty slows down the response. Traditional call boards are going out of use, and group chats aren’t secure or practical in urgent moments.
We wanted a real-time tool that is easy to use under pressure. Knowing who is on the way, and when, helps the station prepare.
Development process
We chose Flutter because we needed both Android and iOS, and because it looked interesting and was a good chance to learn it.
The project started as a proof-of-concept website. The web had hard limits, such as no location updates while the screen was off, so we moved to mobile. Real-time data updates and a smooth sign-in were essential, which led us to Firebase as the backend.
Outcome
The result was a cross-platform mobile app for Android and iOS. A member could belong to several units and mark that they were on the way with a single tap. Laikku estimated arrival times with Google’s APIs, so the others could see who would be at the station and when.
Next steps
- Push notifications straight from the app when an alert is triggered.
Technologies & tools
- Flutter
- Firebase
- Google Cloud (Maps API)
- Figma
