Letters - EMAILS RECEIVED

Subject: Early Fire Detection
From: Beracah Yankama

11/6/2001

IHello,
I am an MIT graduate student -- I and a colleague have created a low cost device that when deployed, has the ability to detect and pinpoint the exact location of fire when it has burned potentially less than a 1/8 acre of wooded area or may just be a 'hot spot'. We are doing due diligence research and were curious of:

a) if this is something that would be in demand
b) what the standard method of forest fire detection is
c) How much it costs to operate a lookout tower & how widely dispersed they are.

i.e. we are trying to figure out if our device would be cost effective &
worth future proof and research.

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks & Regards,
Beracah Yankama
CAES Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
beracah@mit.edu

Subject: Aermotor LS-40 Assembly
From: Craig R. Lawrence

11/6/2001

I have purchased and will erect and restore the Thorpe tower (see Minnesota firetower list) which is an Aermotor LS-40. The good folks at the Forest Service have located much for me from their files--even the original purchase order for a whopping $1470 for 15,000+ pounds of steel. But I don't know how to put it together! The parts are numbered, of course, and I can look at some other LS-40's for reference by driving a ways, but does anyone have an assembly packet or instructions for an LS-40?

We're planning a small visitor area and have been able to contact the man who originally built the tower in 1935 (imagine)!

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Craig R. Lawrence
craig@l-s.com

Subject: Advise Requested
From: Ellen Perryess

07/18/2001

Greetings,

We're part of an effort to reclaim the Hi Mountain Fire Lookout in the Santa Lucia Wilderness in California (near Pozo). The building still stands, but vandals have reduced it to its bare bones. The site is perfect for condor radio telemetry, & possibly for an interpretive center. Morro Coast Audobon, community volunteers & USFS are teaming up together to get the project rolling.

As we consider the possibilities, we'd love advice from those-in-the-know. From reclaiming the site, to making it liveable, through funding & who-knows-what-else, we'll be looking for experienced folks to point us in the right direction.

Who out there would be willing to field email questions for the next couple of months?

Thanks,
Ellen & Chet Perryess
perryess@fix.net