Info From Julie Rogers, Director of the Mendocino Fire Safe Council.

Our publication "Living with Wildfire in Mendocino County" has just been reprinted (due to popular demand!) and copies are available to any person or group who wants them. Singley Ranch donated $1300 toward that end -- love those Singley folks!

We just published a full-color, 4-page pamphlet called "Developing Water Supplies for Fire Protection," written by Anderson Valley Fire Chief Colin Wilson. It's an excellent "how-to" resource for people with tanks, ponds, pools, etc., who live in areas with no fire hydrants and who want fire engines to be able to tap their water when a fire is near!

To get the publications people can contact me directly at 462-3662 or firesafe@pacific.net. I'll mail, deliver, arrange delivery, leave them outside my office door, come to meetings -- however we can get the word out! Also, persons who have a good place for them to be distributed -- libraries, hardware stores, laundromats, health food stores, wherever -- are encouraged to take copies for that location.

Our office is at 151 Laws Avenue, the Willow Water District building, just west of South State Street, next door to the Ukiah Valley Fire District station, across from the airport. People who want large quantities should give me a couple days' notice. I also leave a pile of them outside my office door for anyone to pick up between 8:30 and 4:30 pm, when the building's door are unlocked.

Cal Fire has one or more private "recon" (reconnaissance) airplanes flying to scout out fire flare-ups. The one I know about is a local pilot who knows the county extremely well from the air. That may have been the one Linda and Guy saw. I think at least one helicopter is performing the same function. I think it's only one plane most of the time, flown by Mike Smith, who flew the Cooperative Aerial Fire Patrol over the county for a number of years. Excellent pilot and sharp guy. I was glad to hear him back in the air, as he's probably the best qualified person there is for that job.

I have a scanner with most of the fire frequencies, which is how I know this. I did not have one until two weeks into the fires. NOW I know that such a scanner is the best way to find out what's going on -- wish I'd had one when the fires began. But at first I didn't know any more than anyone else.

Sheriff Tom Allman did, I think, a fantastic job of stepping in and taking action when others failed to do so in those early days. He deserves a lot of credit.