As the threat of wildfire worsens in California and across the world, a growing number of federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and tech companies are racing to deploy new technology that will help combat flames from a whole new vantage point: outer space. New satellite missions backed by NASA, Google, SpaceX, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and other groups were announced this week and promise to advance early wildfire detection and help reduce fire damage by monitoring Earth from above. Collectively, the roster of big names, billionaires, government groups and nongovernmental organizations reflects a considerable interest in using new technology to solve some of humanity's biggest problems. Fire weather days have increased in Western U.S. over the last 50 years, with some of the largest jumps in California, according to a new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit news outlet that reports on climate change. Among them is the Earth Fire Alliance, a global nonprofit coalition that recently unveiled its vision for a constellation of more than 50 satellites that will focus specifically on wildfires and their ecological effects.

Just before 3 a.m. one night this month, Scott Slumpff was awakened by the ding of a text message. "An ALERTCalifornia anomaly has been confirmed in your area of interest," the message said. Slumpff, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, sprang into action. The message meant the agency's new artificial intelligence system had identified signs of a wildfire with a remote mountaintop camera in San Diego County. Within minutes, crews were dispatched to the burgeoning blaze on Mount Laguna -- squelching it before it grew any larger than a 10-foot-by-10-foot spot.

One of two firefighting helicopters that collided in midair over a Southern California brush fire lacked an electronic warning device that alerts pilots to approaching aircraft -- a critical deficiency, according to at least one former wildland fire pilot. As the National Traffic Safety Board continues to investigate the fatal, Aug. 6 crash of two contract California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection helicopters, a career pilot and advocate for collision avoidance systems is calling attention to the fact that one of the choppers lacked a traffic collision-avoidance system, or TCAS, which audibly alerts pilots when another aircraft is nearby. "I'm frankly shocked that this is not required on contract helicopters to this day," said Juan Browne, a former U.S. Forest Service lead plane pilot who now flies Boeing 777s out of Los Angeles for a major airline. "That's the one last piece of safety equipment that could have prevented this accident," he said. The helicopter crash, which killed three, marks a rare instance in which an aviation battle of a California fire has resulted in a midair collision.

AI and climate change represent two ways humans may ravage life as we know it on Earth, but the former can also help with the consequences of the latter. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) revealed a new program today that uses AI to detect wildfires. Created in partnership with the University of California San Diego, the Alert California AI program takes feeds from 1,032 360-degree rotating cameras and uses AI to "identify abnormalities within the camera feeds." It then notifies emergency services and other authorities to check if a potential blaze warrants a response. The program, launched in July, has already quelled at least one potential wildfire, according to Reuters.

Smoke from the Airport Fire seen from the nearby town of Big Pine, California. The nation's most wildfire-prone state is teaming up with an artificial intelligence platform that "never sleeps" and can detect potential fires before they spiral into chaos. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) is partnering with University of California San Diego's ALERTCalifornia, a public safety program that studies natural disasters, to test a $24 million AI program. "We've got an automated system that never sleeps, never rests, watching the North Bay 24 hours, seven days a week," Cal Fire Napa-Lake-Sonoma Unit Chief Mike Marcucci told Fox 2. California is the state most threatened by wildfires in the nation, with 7,396 recorded wildfires in 2021 alone, and 2.5 million acres burned. The Golden State recorded another 7,447 wildfires last year, which burned a combined 331,360 acres.

As California faces its first major heat wave of the summer this Fourth of July weekend, state officials are urging residents to not become complacent about the threat of wildfires this year. Standing beneath the blistering sun at the Grass Valley Air Attack Base in Nevada County, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection chief Joe Tyler outlined the state's plans to battle blazes this year with new tools and technology, as well as increased vegetation management efforts. He cautioned that while the wet start to 2023 may have delayed the start of fire season, it has not deterred it. "The abundant rain has produced tall grass and other vegetation that's dried out already and is ready to burn," Tyler said. Additionally, portions of the state are expected to soar into the triple digits this weekend, including up to 110 degrees in the Sacramento Valley.

Cal Fire and other agencies use a network of over 1,000 cameras statewide to track wildfires before, during and after. The public can now access the network, too. Wildfire season is almost here, and there's a new way you can help firefighters -- from anywhere. The University of California San Diego and state fire agencies have partnered to launch a public website for people to watch live camera feeds across the state. The program called ALERTCalifornia also helps firefighters fight fires by using a network of more than 1,000 live camera sensors to track the fires before, during and after.

This year, wildfires in California alone have burned more than 3.8 million acres, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, which has been leading many firefighting efforts in the state. Since mid-August, at least 29 people have died. And wildfires continue to burn. This week, the Glass Fire in California's wine country prompted mandatory evacuation orders for Calistoga, a city of more than 5,200. Fire prediction tools are helping officials in the area and across the state gain greater visibility into how big a fire might get and where it might be headed, said Geoff Marshall, a division chief in Cal Fire's Predictive Services program.