But there are a slew of new innovations that are in development or on the drawing board that have the potential to transform how wildfires are fought.

We asked experts about how these advances might help firefighters deal with challenging, wind-driven wildfires like the fatal blaze in Yarnell Hill, Arizona. (Related: "Who Are the Hotshots? A Wildland Firefighting Primer.")

When trapped by the fire, some of the Arizona firefighters who died were forced to deploy tent-like, foil-covered structures as a last—and ultimately futile—attempt at survival.

All federal, state, and local wildland firefighters are required to carry these so-called fire shelters while battling federal fires. The fire shelters are meant as a last line of defense when facing a fire entrapment, to