Fire agencies were on high alert Monday with forecasts of possible "dry lightning." In Marin County, that means a team of volunteer fire lookouts could be the difference between an unusual weather event and disaster.
From Mount Diablo in the distance, to Point Reyes station to the west, Michael Fischer feels a sense of ownership of the land stretching out beneath him.
"It's actually panned out to be just what I was hoping for," he said, climbing the stairs to his post. "It's a place where not only are you alone and not only are you looking at beautiful stuff, but you've got a job to do, too."
As a volunteer lookout for the Marin Fire Department, Fischer takes his job seriously. That's why it was gratifying last year when he spotted a tiny plume of smoke in the White's Hill Pass area and called it in.
"Within moments of me saying 'white smoke is at White's Hill Pass,' they said, 'Got it!' and then I heard all sorts of sirens. I spotted it at a third of an acre, and they stopped it at three acres," Fischer said.