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monday <br /> ■ October 18, 1999 <br /> Farmer's wife <br /> from Westley <br /> leads charge <br /> By Jennifer Christgan <br /> Record Staff Writer <br /> WESTLEY — When Tracy <br /> resident Monica Lowney heard <br /> about the first Westley tire-fire <br /> community meeting, she pulled <br /> the blackened filter from her <br /> air conditioner and headed out <br /> to make a point. <br /> Her message: If you don't <br /> speak up, no one will pay <br /> attention. She believes that <br /> Tracy residents have been vic- <br /> tims twice — once with the <br /> year-old Royster tire fire and <br /> now by the Westley fire — the <br /> particulate matter of which has <br /> dirtied her once-white air- <br /> conditioning filter. <br /> "It is very important that <br /> people stay vocal; otherwise, <br /> they will be forgotten," she <br /> said. "Tracy was just forgotten." <br /> Lowney has joined the Com- <br /> munity Awareness-Action Com- <br /> mittee — formed by Westley- <br /> area residents in the wake of <br /> the tire fire — in hopes of <br /> drawing attention back to the <br /> Tracy/Royster tire fire that is <br /> still burning. The lightning bolt <br /> that set nearly 5 million tires <br /> on fire Sept. 22 in Westley also <br /> ignited an aggressive commu- <br /> nity movement. <br /> And fueling their fight is the <br /> still-burning reminder in their <br /> neighbor to the north's back <br /> yard. "We're bound and deter- <br /> mined that we are not going to <br /> stop yelling or screaming until <br /> they put the fire out," said John <br /> Mataka, a Grayson resident and <br /> longtime activist. "If we lay <br /> down, then we will suffer the <br /> effects of this fire forever." <br /> Officials admit that the reac- <br /> tion to the Westley tire fire was <br /> in part fueled by the commu- <br /> nity. <br /> "Anytime you have public <br /> input that is very strong, it <br /> Please see ACTIVIST,A5 <br />