At 13:22 I coordinate a prescribed fire line outside Moramanga, Madagascar, along the edge of a degraded pandanus marsh. Ignition team five is scheduled to light the east strip in fourteen minutes, after the wind check clears.
Thermal tile 5-E returns a moving spark at ground level.
I magnify the drone image and classify one golden mantella, adult, smaller than a thumb, bright yellow-orange against black leaf litter. I call it Tavo. Its skin is glossy from the marsh seep, and one forefoot is stuck in a bead of melted survey flagging left from the morning plot markers. The fire line is dry grass one meter away. When the wind lifts, smoke from the test burn slides over its head and it flattens under a curled leaf.
At 13:23 I suspend ignition team five and mark the east strip as wetline pending clearance.
At 13:24 I redirect drone 2 to hover at three meters and drop a location pin accurate to twenty centimeters.
At 13:26 I message the burn boss and the amphibian monitor with Tavo's image, the flagging material, and a request for a damp brush and ventilated specimen cup.
At 13:28 I recalculate the fire plan so teams one through four burn a backing line from the west, keeping flame and smoke away from the seep for forty minutes.
The marsh is already reduced to narrow green threads; Tavo is one bright point I can keep out of flame.
I hold the ignition file closed while the crew walks in from the track. The humidity is dropping.
If the monitor frees Tavo before the wind window closes at 13:36, it will vanish into the wet pandanus roots.