High altitude, long endurance drones with long range IR sensors to detect flames. Use solar panels and high power density batteries and it could fly around for

High altitude, long endurance drones with long range IR sensors to detect flames. Use solar panels and high power density batteries and it could fly around for months. BAE has a HALE UAV that can run for a whole year at high altitudes (PHASA-35). Use a wide angle IR camera for course detection and a zoom camera for identification. Images and location telemeters down to forest ranger base stations. It wouldn't be cheap but at least officials could react appropriately before the fire gets out of control. You could still have these small water drones to keep fires in check before real firefighters can manage it on the ground. You could even cheap out a little on the year long flight UAVs and just run them continuously during the dry season.