New camera network means California's next wildfire might be spotted by you. From your couch.

This photo of the view from Mt. Tamalpais was captured on the AlertWildfire.org website on January 23, 2019. This photo of the view from Mt. Tamalpais was captured on the AlertWildfire.org website on January 23, 2019. Photo: Nevada Seismo Lab Photo: Nevada Seismo Lab Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close New camera network means California's next wildfire might be spotted by you. From your couch. 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Cal Fire used to rely on shifts of trained lookouts poised atop mountains to track wildfire movements. But now, a network of cameras will let anyone with internet access monitor for potential dangers, 24 hours a day.

Dozens of cameras spanning the state will allow utilities, Cal Fire and the public watch thousands of miles of California wilderness in real-time, providing valuable information to first responders.

"The system is more of a 911 response," says Graham Kent, who directs the University of Nevada, Reno seismology lab which started the program. Kent says the biggest problem is not spotting the fires, but responding to their exact location and movements. That's where the network comes in.

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"It allows them to understand almost immediately what's going on," said Kent.

Since July, dozens of cameras have gone live on the AlertWildfire.org website, which is funded by several entities, including the state's four largest utilities. In the North Bay, the plan is to mount around 40 cameras by spring spanning Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Napa and Lake Counties.

As the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports, the latest fire lookout camera was mounted Tuesday above the area ravaged by the 2017 Tubbs Fire. A single camera cans cover up to 5,000 square miles during the day and even farther using near-infrared capabilities at night, according to the newspaper. Right now, cameras atop Atlas Peak, Mt. Tam, Geyser Peak and others are live on the AlertWildfire.org website.

Kent says he hopes future state funding will allow the network to grow without the need to hammer out individual agreements with each of the dozens of utilities operating within the sate.

Right now, existing cameras are also live in the San Diego, Tahoe and Orange County areas, among others. You can see the full network here.

The program is the result of a student idea from nearly a decade ago. They saw the potential to crowdsource fire monitoring using the power of social media.

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"We want the public to help man the cameras," says Kent. And while the causal viewers won't have the ability to move the 360-degree pan the way operators can, they can prove instrumental in notifying authorities.

Kent notes that each live camera has a "tweet" button placed at the top of the screen which can be used to notify authorities of fire movement. But Kent asks the public not to stop there.

"We always say 'call 911 and then tweet.'"