Pacific Gas and Electric Company has started daily aerial fire detection patrols. Airplanes, mostly taking off out of Red Bluff Airport, patrol 10 northern counties trying to spot smoke columns early enough to alert firefighting agencies before small fires become infernos. The patrols are not new. PG&E has been doing them since 2014 when the governor declared a drought emergency. They started up again on June 1st and will continue through the end of October, with seven airplanes making daily flights in the interest of early fire detection. Last year the PG&E patrols identified 209 fires, 10 of which had not yet been reported.