MENDOCINO, Calif. – A dramatic new documentary about wildland fires and how we can make our communities fire safe will debut this weekend in Mendocino County.

“Wilder than Wild” will be screened at Preston Hall, 44867 Main St. next to the Presbyterian Church, in Mendocino.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the film beginning at 7 p.m.

Admission is free.

The hour-long documentary reveals how fuel buildup and climate change have exposed Western wild-lands to large, high intensity wildfires, while greenhouse gases released from these fires accelerate climate change.

This vicious cycle jeopardizes our forests and affects us all with extreme weather and more wildfires, some of which are now entering highly populated wildland/urban areas.

A sequence in “Wilder than Wild” shows how the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa and the Redwood Valley fire, which began on Oct. 8, 2017, caused the destruction of 4,658 homes and killed 44. It shows how the "fires of the future" can include urban areas.

"Things are changing," said one firefighter, "If we don't change, we're going to see even more homes annihilated in these types of fires."

Following the screening there will be a panel discussion with Mendocino Fire Chief Ed O’Brien, Fire Captain Eric Chisholm and Mary Mayeda, who heads the Mendocino Fire Safe Council.

The moderator is the event’s organizer filmmaker Jim Culp.

For further information call 707-937-3755, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..