As climate change and drought produce a fire season in the American West that is both longer and vastly more dangerous than past seasons, high tech is increasingly making its way to the flaming front, with the potential to revolutionize the way we fight devastating wildfires.

Facing a fire season that is by some estimates 75 days longer than a decade ago, firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service have been forced to rethink the way we coexist with one of nature's most destructive forces. Increasingly, the experts are turning to drones and 'droids that can see farther, act faster, and provide better real-time data about wildfires than humans can. (Related: "Overwhelming Cause of California Wildfires: Humans.")

Technology has