![Pepperwood Preserve's Ryan Ferrell, left, and Tosha Comendant, center, with SSU's Claudia Luke survey the vista atop of the highest peaks of the 3,200-acre preserve. SSU fire watch](https://news.a7prd.sonoma.edu/sites/news/files/styles/listing_thumbnail/public/field/image/ssu_firewatch_0.jpg?itok=xjpb2vw4)
![To the left is the structure that will hold one of the two Pepperwood fire-alert network cameras that will soon go online. SSU fire watch 2](https://news.a7prd.sonoma.edu/sites/news/files/styles/listing_thumbnail/public/field/image/ssu_firewatch_2.jpg?itok=cj2HBhPq)
February 28, 2019
As Claudia Luke and her hiking party rose above the oak trees to a clearing just below the ridgeline of Sonoma Mountain a funnel of dark smoke came into view far to the southwest toward Point Reyes.
Given the purpose of the outing, the timing was extraordinary. “That’s...