The Great, Angry Dude Fire Of 1990, Part 2    Tonto Creek
Adventures, Chapter 3  Editor's note: This is Part Two of Stan
Brown's "The Great, Angry Dude Fire" that began in last week's
Rim Review.   A forest fire does crazy things, jumping some
houses to leave them untouched while utterly destroying others.
When we arrived in Payson, smoke clutched the low-lying town and
white ash accumulated everywhere. The town was already rallying
to take food and essentials to the base fire camp, and provide
shelter for those being evacuated. We were directed to (Rim
Country Middle School), where Red Cross volunteers assigned
shelters to those who had nowhere else to go.  We were required
to register so it could be noted we were safely out of the
danger area.  Among 1,200 other forest dwellers processed that
day, we were graciously given a phone number that went directly
to the base camp. The invitation was to call as often as we
desired for updates on the fire and our home areas.  Later, in
piecing together events, we re