Each year, wildfires in the U.S directly kill about two dozen people on average, cause countless smoke-related illnesses and cost hundreds of billions of dollars. The best way to prevent this destruction is also one of the most difficult: detect fires before they spiral out of control. Volunteers watch for wildfires in California’s San Bernardino Mountains from the Keller Peak Fire Lookout Tower. The program maintains the third generation of wildfire monitoring systems at the University of California, San Diego. “Using technology to enhance our ability to make decisions [about wildfire response] has really benefited us,” Wells says.