Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. On July Fourth, amid a cacophony of fireworks and flame-throwing propane grills, a seemingly ordinary lightning strike hit somewhere in Grand Canyon National Park. The resulting spark ignited surrounding dry vegetation, and strong winds quickly spread the flames for miles. Over the course of several weeks, that initial spark has grown into a blaze engulfing more than 100,000 acres, officially classifying it as a "megafire" and the largest wildfire of 2025…so far. As of this writing, "The Dragon Bravo Fire" has already destroyed 70 buildings, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge.

To get ahead of such blazes, fire department officials in the Bay Area's Contra Costa County intentionally set four test fires of their own this summer. Each was surrounded by a set of field sensors capable of measuring temperature and humidity. When the initial ignition was detected, the sensors relayed the location of the blaze to a remote dashboard created by Zonehaven, a cloud-based analytics application that incorporate current weather conditions to devise a simulation of how quickly the fire would spread over the next five to 10 hours, and, if left unstopped, what nearby areas would be most at risk. The application is capable of sending out an immediate alert about an ignition situation to firefighters and local governments--anyone who needs instant information to start battling the blaze and plan evacuations. As you can see in the video below, the concept is being developed with the cooperation of the nearby Moraga-Orinda fire district, which battled California's deadly Rim and Camp fires in recent years.