Fire lookout tower
Encyclopedia
Fire lookout
A fire lookout is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire.Once a possible fire...
" whose duty it is to search for wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s in the wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
. The fire lookout tower is a small building, usually located on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point, in order to maximize the viewing distance and range, known as view shed. From this vantage point the fire lookout can see any trace of smoke that may develop, determine the location by using a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder
Osborne Fire Finder
right|thumb|An Osborne Fire Finder device used in fire lookout towers.The Osborne Fire Finder is a type of alidade used by fire lookouts in order to find a directional bearing to smoke in order to alert fire crews to a wildland fire....
, and call fire suppression personnel to the fire.
The typical fire lookout tower consists of a small room, known as a cab located atop a large steel, or wooden tower. However, sometimes natural rock may be used to create a lower platform. In some cases, the terrain makes it possible so there is no need for an additional tower and these are known as ground cabs. Ground cabs are called towers, even if they don't sit on a tower.
Towers gained popularity in the early 1900s, and fires were reported using telephones, carrier pigeon
Carrier pigeon
A carrier pigeon is a homing pigeon that is used to carry messages. Using pigeons to carry messages is generally called "pigeon post". Most homing or racing type varieties are used to carry messages. There is no specific breed actually called "carrier pigeon"...
s, and heliograph
Heliograph
A heliograph is a wireless solar telegraph that signals by flashes of sunlight reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter...
s. Although many fire lookout have fallen into disuse as a result of neglect, abandonment, and declining budgets, some fire service personnel have made an effort to preserve older fire towers, arguing that a good set of human eyes watching the forest for wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
can be an effective and cheap fire safety measure.
History
The earliest known fire lookout in the world was on Mount MasadaMasada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...
, west of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, approximately 2,000 years ago. It was built by King Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
's army to protect against his enemies, who were setting fires in Israel.http://www.firelookout.com/trivia.html
United States
The history of fire lookout towers predates the United States Forest ServiceUnited States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
, founded in 1905. Many townships, private lumber companies, and State Forestry organizations operated fire lookout towers on their own accord.
The Great Fire of 1910
Great Fire of 1910
The Great Fire of 1910 was a wildfire which burned about three million acres in northeast Washington, northern Idaho , and western Montana...
, also known as the Big Blowup, burned 3000000 acres (12,140.6 km²) through the states of Washington, Idaho, and Montana. It is still arguably the largest forest fire ever in recorded history. The smoke from this fire drifted across the entire country to Washington D.C. — both physically and politically — and it challenged the five-year-old Forest Service to address new policies regarding fire suppression, and the fire did much to create the fire rules, organizations, and policies that we have today. One of the rules as a result of the 1910 fire stated "all fires must be extinguished by 10 a.m. the following morning".
To prevent and suppress fires, the U.S. Forest Service made another rule that townships, corporations and States would bear the cost of contracting fire suppression services, because at the time there was not the large Forest Service Fire Department that exists today.
As a result of the above rules, early fire detection and suppression
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
became a priority. Towers began to be built across the country. While earlier lookouts used tall trees and high peaks with tents for shelters, by 1911 permanent cabins and cupolas were being constructed on mountaintops.
In 1933, during the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt formed the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
(CCC), consisting of young men and veterans of World War I. It was during this time that the CCC set about building fire lookout towers, and access roads to those towers. The U.S. Forest Service took great advantage of the CCC workforce and initiated a massive program of construction projects, including fire lookout towers. In California alone, some 250 lookout towers and cabs were built by CCC workers between 1933 and 1942.
The heyday of fire lookout towers was from 1930 through 1950. During World War II, the Aircraft Warning Service
Aircraft warning service
The Aircraft Warning Service was a civilian service of the United States Army Ground Observer Corps instated during World War II to keep watch for enemy planes entering American airspace. It became inactive on May 29, 1944.-Purpose:...
was established, operating from mid-1941 to mid-1944. Fire lookouts were assigned additional duty as Enemy Aircraft Spotters, especially on the West Coast of the United States.
From the 1960s through the 1990s the towers took a back seat to new technology, aircraft, and improvements in radios. The promise of space satellite fire detection and modern cell phones tried to compete with the remaining fire lookout towers, but in several environments, the technology failed.
Fires detected from space are already too large to make accurate assessments for control. Cell phones in wilderness areas still suffer from lack of signal. Today, some fire lookout towers remain in service, because having human eyes being able to detect smoke and call in the fire report allows fire management officials to decide early how the fire is to be managed. The more modern policy is to "manage fire", not simply to suppress it. Fire lookout towers provide a reduction in time of fire detection to time of fire management assessment.
Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
had the most known lookout sites (989); 196 of them still exist, with roughly 60 staffed each summer. Kansas is the only U.S. state that has never had a lookout.
A number of fire lookout tower stations located in New York State, particularly near the Adirondack Forest Preserve and Catskill Park, have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. They include Arab Mountain Fire Observation Station
Arab Mountain Fire Observation Station
Arab Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Mount Arab at Piercefield in St. Lawrence County, New York. The station includes a , steel frame lookout tower erected in 1918, an observers cabin built about 1948, a trace of the foundation of the original...
, Azure Mountain Fire Observation Station
Azure Mountain Fire Observation Station
Azure Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Azure Mountain at Waverly in Franklin County, New York...
, Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
The Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is located at the summit of the mountain of that name in the Town of Hardenburgh, New York, United States...
, Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station
Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station
Blue Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Blue Mountain at Indian Lake in Hamilton County, New York...
, Hadley Mountain Fire Observation Station
Hadley Mountain Fire Observation Station
Hadley Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Hadley Mountain at Hadley in Saratoga County, New York. The tower is a prefabricated structure built by the Aermotor Corporation in 1917...
, Kane Mountain Fire Observation Station
Kane Mountain Fire Observation Station
Kane Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Kane Mountain at Caroga in Fulton County, New York. The station includes a , steel-frame lookout tower erected in 1925, an observer's cabin built about 1960, and foot trail. The tower and trail are...
, Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station
Loon Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Loon Lake Mountain at Loon Lake in Franklin County, New York. The station and contributing resources include a , steel-frame lookout tower erected in 1917; it has been abandoned since 1971...
, Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station
Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station
Mount Tremper Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Mount Tremper at Shandaken in Ulster County, New York. The station and contributing resources include a , steel frame lookout tower erected in 1917 and a jeep trail that extends from the base of the mountain...
, Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain Fire Observation Station
Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain Fire Observation Station
Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Poke-O-Moonshine Mountain at Chesterfield in Essex County, New York...
, Red Hill Fire Observation Station
Red Hill Fire Observation Station
The Red Hill Fire Observation Station consists of a fire lookout tower, cabin and pit privy located on the summit of Red Hill, a Catskill Mountain peak in Denning, New York, United States. It is the southernmost fire tower in the Catskill Park....
, St. Regis Mountain Fire Observation Station
St. Regis Mountain Fire Observation Station
St. Regis Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Saint Regis Mountain at Santa Clara in Franklin County, New York. The station and contributing resources include a , steel frame lookout tower erected in 1918, the site of the former observer's cabin, and...
, Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station
Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station
Snowy Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on the summit of Snowy Mountain at Indian Lake in Hamilton County, New York...
, and Wakely Mountain Fire Observation Station
Wakely Mountain Fire Observation Station
Wakely Mountain Fire Observation Station is a historic fire observation station located on Wakely Mountain at Lake Pleasant in Hamilton County, New York. The station and contributing resources include a , steel-frame lookout tower erected in 1916 and a foot trail that leads down the mountain. ...
.
Japan
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
housed the .
Usually the fire lookout tower was built near a , and was equipped with a ladder, lookout platform, and an .
From these towers watchmen could observe the entire town, and in the event of a fire they would ring the alarm bell, calling up firemen and warning town residents. In some towns the bells were also used to mark the time.
While the fire lookout towers remained fully equipped into the Showa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
, they were later replaced by telephone and radio broadcasting systems in many cities.
Canada
Like the United States, fire towers were built across Canada to protect the value trees for the forestry industry. Most towers were built in the early 1920s to 1950s and were a mix of wood and steel structures. A handful of towers remain in Ontario after the 1970s, but they are still in use in British ColumbiaBritish Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and the Maritime Provinces.
Modern fire lookout towers
Today hundreds of towers are still in service with paid-staff and/or volunteer citizens. In some areas, the fire lookoutFire lookout
A fire lookout is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire.Once a possible fire...
operator often receives hundreds of forest visitors during a weekend and provides a needed “pre-fire suppression” message, supported by handouts from the "Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". Smokey Bear's later slogan,...
", or "Woodsy Owl
Woodsy Owl
Woodsy Owl is an owl icon for the United States Forest Service most famous for the motto "Give a hoot — don't pollute!". His current motto is "Lend a hand — care for the land!". Woodsy's target audience are children five to eight years old, and he was designed to be seen as a mentor to...
" education campaigns. This educational information is often distributed to young hikers that make their way up to the fire lookout tower. In this aspect, the towers are remote way stations and interpretive centers. The fire lookout tower also acts as a sentinel in the forest attracting lost or injured hikers, that make their way to the tower knowing they can get help.
In some locations around the country, fire lookout towers can be rented by public visitors that obtain a permit. These locations provide a unique experience for the camper, and in some rental locations, the check out time is enforced when the fire lookout operator returns for duty, and takes over the cab for the day shift.
Fire lookout towers are an important part of American history and several organizations have been founded to save, rebuild, restore, and operate fire lookout towers.
Wooden towers
Many fire lookout towers are simply cabs that have been fitted to large railroad water tank towers. These huge wooden towers could extend 30 to 60 ft (9.1 to 18.3 m). One of the last wooden fire lookout towers in Southern California was the South Mount Hawkins Fire Lookout located in the Angeles National Forest. A civilian effort is underway to rebuild the tower after its tragic loss during the Curve Fire of September 2002.The typical cab of a wooden tower can be from 10 by 10 ft (3 by 3 m) to 14 by 14 ft (4.3 by 4.3 m)
- Example — South Mount Hawkins before the fire
Steel towers
The typical cab of a steel tower can be from 10 by 10 ft (3 by 3 m) to 14 by 14 ft (4.3 by 4.3 m)
- Example — Keller Peak Lookout
- Example — Red Mountain Lookout
- Example — Mount Lofty Fire TowerMount Lofty Fire TowerMount Lofty Fire Tower sits on top of Mount Lofty in the Adelaide Hills just to the east of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The 34m high tower has a commanding view over a huge area of the rural areas surrounding Adelaide, and on a clear day the view can extend to as far as Kangaroo Island...
, South Australia
Aermotors
The Aermotor Company, originally of Chicago IL, was the first and lead manufacturer of steel fire towers from the nineteen-teens to the mid-twenties. These towers have very small cabs, because the towers are based upon Aermotor windmill towers. These towers are often found in the U.S. Midwest or the South, but few have made their way into the mountainous West. In the northeast, all of the towers in the Adrondack Mountains and most in the Catskills were Aermotor towers erected between 1916 and 1921.The typical cab of an Aermoter had a 7 by cab with a fire locating device mounted in the center. Access was by way of a trap door in the floor.
- Example — Lakota Peak Lookout
- Example — Summit Ridge Lookout
- Example — The Fire Towers of New York
- Example — Adirondack Towers
Ground cabs
- Example — Tahquitz Peak Lookout
- Example — Winchester Mountain LookoutWinchester Mountain LookoutThe historical Winchester Lookout, located in the North Cascades in the U.S. state of Washington, provides views of the Northern Picket Range, Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan and Canadian peaks. The steep snowfields usually require an ice-axe well into July. The Twin Lakes road may not be passable to...
- Example — Mt. Tamalpais Lookout in California
Other types
There are many different types of lookouts. In the early days, the fire lookoutFire lookout
A fire lookout is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire.Once a possible fire...
operator would simply climb a denuded tree and would sit upon a 2'x2' platform chair atop that tree. An old fishing boat was once dragged to the top of a high hill and it was used as a fire lookout tower. Very little is known about the horse mounted fire lookout, but they, too, would ride the ridges patrolling the forest for smoke.
Records
- Tallest lookout tower in the world: Warren Bicentennial Tree Lookout, Australia — 225.7 feet (69 m).
- Tallest all-steel lookout tower in the world: Beard Tower, 5 km (3.1 mi) SE of Manjimup, West Australia — 200 feet (61 m).
- Tallest lookout tower in the U.S.: Woodworth Tower, Alexandria, LouisianaAlexandria, LouisianaAlexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
— 175 feet (53 m). - Highest lookout site in the world: Fairview Peak, 25 miles (40.2 km) NE of Gunnison, ColoradoGunnison, ColoradoThe historic City of Gunnison, a Home Rule Municipality, is the county seat and the most populous city of Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,854. It was named in honor of John W...
— 13,214 feet (4,028 m). - Lowest lookout sites in the world: Pine IslandPine Island- United States :*Pine Island * Pine Island , an island in the Missouri River-Towns:*Pine Island, Florida, in Hernando County*Pine Island, Minnesota*Pine Island, New York*Pine Island, South Carolina*Pine Island, Texas...
L.O., Florida & Evans Pines L.O., FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
— 2 feet (0.6 m).
Countries continuing to use fire lookout towers
- USA
- Canada (Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan)
- Mexico
- Uruguay
- Brazil
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Indonesia
- France
- Italy
- Turkey
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
- Germany
- Latvia
- Israel
- South Africa
- Belgium
- Norway
See also
- WatchtowerWatchtowerA watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may...
- Fire control towerFire control towerA fire control tower is a structure located near the U.S. coast that was used to detect and locate enemy vessels offshore, direct fire upon them from coastal batteries, or adjust the aim of guns by spotting shell splashes. These towers were part of the U.S...
, used to control gun fire from coastal batteries
External links
- Fire Lookouts US Forest Service History Pages, Forest History SocietyForest History SocietyThe Forest History Society is an American non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of forest and conservation history. The society was established in 1946 and incorporated in 1955....
- Rex's Forest Fire Lookout Page
- Forest Fire Lookout Association
- Angeles National Forest Fire Lookout Association
- Rebuild South Mount Hawkins Lookout
- San Bernardino National Forest Association
- Conrads' North Idaho Forest Fire Lookouts
- Ontario's Fire Tower Lookouts
- Portugal's Fire Tower Lookouts-click on the dots to see photos
- The Fire Towers of New York
- Mount Utsayantha Fire Tower- A 360 degree view of the inside of the Fire Tower
- 360 Degree Panorama inside the Pinewood Fire Tower - Beltrami County, MN
- Lookout Vistas
- Fire Tower Lookouts in Australia