The War on Wildfires Is Going High-Tech

Last December, a farmer was burning dry grapevines in his vineyard in Deir Mar Moussa, a hill town a dozen miles east of Beirut known for its 18th century monastery and stands of pine forest. Usually this would be dangerous, given that Lebanon’s hot and dry climate can quickly turn a spark into a conflagration.

But on this day the worst was avoided. A device made by a German startup “smelled” the smoke from the farmer’s fire and sent out an alert, allowing authorities to prevent it from spreading. Given the recent explosion of global warming-fueled wildfires across the planet, quick detection is needed more than ever. In this case, a device called Silvanet by Dryad Networks identified the unique gas patterns in the air which indicated something in Deir Mar Moussa was burning.