As for similar sensor packages - some 'Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperatures' [2] are collected hourly and could get around the time issue. Resolution ranges from 1 to 8km. Then there are things up there from the NRO, DoD, etc which likely aren't as friendly with data sharing...
http://sensorweb.nasa.gov/new/validationReport/IEEE-SMC-2005... (section 4)
I wish the article was more clear what advances the Berkeley folks have come up with. They claim a theoretical 3 meter resolution compared to the 'next-gen' sensor package (VIIRS [1]) at 750 meters.
[1] http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/viirs.html http://collaboration.cmc.ec.gc.ca/science/rpn/SEM/dossiers/2...
To bring up a related matter, it seems like they are not proposing to do the detection on-board (see section 2.2.2, where they talk about a database of past images). If they are not, they have to transfer all the data to ground. The data rate can be very demanding (and the high orbit makes it more so). Accurate pointing will be another issue (high orbit, small pixels). They have a longer way to go than the press release indicates.
Notwithstanding all this griping, it's an interesting concept.
“The point is, satellites like Landsat and GOES provide great information after a fire starts; they can focus and monitor a fire by looking at smoke plumes, fire spread, hot spots at the edges, etc.,” Kelly said. “FUEGO is designed for early detection of smaller fires. Right now, we lose a lot of time because fires are already big by the time we see them.”
It's too bad the investigators are unaware of prior work.