WRITTEN BY W.M. WHITEHEAD  DIRECTED BY HARVEY S. LAIDMAN  GUEST CAST  RICK HURST  as FLOYD FUSSELL  MARTIN KOVE as  LYLE RAINWOOD  TRACY REED as MELISSA  SID HAIG as  BURNETT  ROBERT SWAN  as HAYES  TRAVIS McKENNA as ANDY FUSSELL  TINY WELLES as DARRYL FUSSELL  CORKY GREENE as  TATUM  DAVID WILEY as  FIRE CAPTAIN

Synopsis  The notorious Lyle Rainwood & his gang are running a fire insurance racket.  Those who don’t buy his insurance see their property burned by way of his fireball-shooting gun.  Bannister is distracted from the governor’s assignment to round up the gang by the appearance & sudden death of Melissa, the woman who turned down his marriage proposal 15 years earlier.  Without Bannister, the Wildside Chamber of Commerce fails in their first attempt to capture the gang.  The gang is  lured into Wildside when Brodie and Bannister stage a fight in which Brodie is apparently killed.  Rainwood thinks the town is ripe for takeover.  He’s wrong.

Bannister’s joy over reuniting with his lost love is cut short by her death only 12-hours later.  He refuses to believe her death is natural.  He becomes too preoccupied with grief and a futile search for her murderer to join his comrades in the hunt for Rainwood.

After Sutton is hurt and  Rainwood escapes the scene of his latest fire, Brodie engages Bannister in a multi-hour “talk” while Prometheus and Varges wait.

Brodie & Bannister emerge engaged in a quarrel that ultimately results in Brodie’s “death”.   Rainwood’s henchmen confirm Brodie is dead with a visit to the funeral parlor where they are frightened by Alice’s enthusiasm for her trade.

Rainwood’s gang rides openly into Wildside, believing they will get no resistance from the disbanded Chamber of Commerce.  However, with the help of the burly Fussell brothers, Rainwood’s gang is captured.