[Mesh] forest fire early detection system

I don't know if this is the right list for disaster.radio but I want to involve everyone who might be interested. In California we have a serious forest fire issue. It would be nice to go back in time and not burn a bunch of carbon, but that ship has sailed and while things might be okay on a more geological timescale, I personally like breathing and my friends do too. So we need a forest fire detection system that can pinpoint forest fires as soon as they start (whether because of a flicked cigarette or a lightning strike or an ember floating on the wind from a campfire) so that we have a hope of putting them out before they grow out of control. Presently, by the time a fire is detected, it's often large enough that humans can't do anything about it except spend tons of money on trying to protect the houses of people who live out in the woods. That might be nice for the people who live there but it doesn't do anything for the people who have to breathe smoke for an entire season, and of course the carbon impacts on weather patterns are a big factor as well. So i'm calling for a group of us to partner with state agencies for funding and information, and figure out how out mesh networking and hardware/software skills can be put to use to try to improve the situation. I'm picturing something like Disaster Radio nodes installed as a mesh in the woods, with smoke detection and wind direction/speed sensors, and maybe humidity and temperature as well. They will flow that data upstream to larger nodes that can link back to forest service buildings or towers, where that data can be monitored for signs that a fire is starting. Please loop in people who you think might be interested in making this happen. I really think it would need at least one lead person for grantwriting and organizing; hardware and software skills are useless without the means to make things happen, as well as the legitimacy required to interface with agencies like the forest services that will actually be using this system to fight fires. -jake