A fire lookout (partly also called a fire watcher) is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a

fire lookout tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

. 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 is spotted, "Smoke Reports", or "Lookout Shots" are relayed to the local Emergency Communications Center (ECC), often by radio or phone. A fire lookout can use a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder to obtain the radial in degrees off the tower, and the estimated distance from the tower to the fire. Part of the lookout's duties include taking weather readings and reporting the findings to the Emergency Communications Center throughout the day. Often several lookouts will overlap in coverage areas and each will “cross” the same smoke, allowing the ECC to use

triangulation In trigonometry and geometry, triangulation is the process of determining the location of a point by forming triangles to the point from known points. Applications In surveying Specifically in surveying, triangulation involves only angle me ...

from the radials to achieve an accurate location of the fire. Once ground crews and fire suppression aircraft are active in fire suppression, the lookout personnel continue to search for new smoke plumes which may indicate spotting and alterations that pose risks to ground crews. Working in a fire lookout tower in the middle of a

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

area takes a hardy type of person, one who can work with no supervision, and is able to survive without any other human interaction. Some towers are accessible by automobile, but others are so remote a lookout must

hike Hike may refer to: * Hiking, walking lengthy distances in the countryside or wilderness * Hiking (sailing), moving a sailor's body weight as far to windward (upwind) as possible, in order to counteract the force of the wind pushing sideways agains ...

in, or be lifted in by helicopter. In many locations, even modern fire lookout towers do not have electricity or running water. Most fire lookout jobs are seasonal through the fire season. Fire lookouts can be paid staff or volunteer staff. Some volunteer organizations in the United States have started to rebuild, restore and operate aging fire lookout towers. Although it was considered as “man’s work” in the U.S., women have been doing the job almost from its beginnings.

Countries/Regions that use fire lookouts

* United States * Canada ( B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia) * Mexico * Uruguay * Brazil * Greece *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

* New Zealand * Hong Kong * Indonesia * France * Italy * Portugal * Cyprus * Spain * Germany *

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

* United Kingdom - during World War II (termed 'Fire Watchers') as part of

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

system. * Israel * Russia * Kazakhstan * South Africa * Poland

Notable fire lookouts

* Hallie Morse Daggett – the first female fire lookout for the U.S. Forest Service * Helen Dowe – Devil's Head Lookout at Pike National Forest (1918) * Ramona Merwin and family – Vetter Mountain, raised her family in the lookout * Howard "Razz" Gardner and Keith V. Johnson " The Lookout Air Raid" a little-known Japanese aircraft attack of Oregon, USA during World War II * Roy Sullivan, worked as a fire lookout in his early career as a U.S. National Park Ranger, but was best known for having set a world record for surviving seven lightning strikes during his life. *

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

, whose books '' The Dharma Bums'', '' Desolation Angels'' and '' Lonesome Traveler'' include accounts of his job as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades during the summer of 1956. * Edward Abbey, who was a fire lookout at Mt. Harkness (1966; Lassen National Park), Atacosa (1968; Coronado National Forest), North Rim (1969–1971; Grand Canyon National Park), Numa Ridge (1975; Glacier National Park), and Aztec Peak (1977–1979; Tonto National Forest). * Doug Peacock, who was a fire lookout at Huckleberry and Scalplock in Glacier National Park from 1976 to 1984. *

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...

, who was a fire lookout at Crater Peak and Sourdough Mountain in the North Cascades. * Philip Whalen, who was a fire lookout on Sourdough Mountain and Sauk Mountain in the North Cascades. * Norman Maclean, who chronicled his experience in " USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky" *

Philip Connors Philip Connors is an American essayist and author. He was born in Iowa and raised in Minnesota. He studied journalism at the University of Montana. He interned at the ''Nation'' and subsequently worked at the ''Wall Street Journal'' for several y ...

, writer *

Thomas William Ah Chow Thomas William (Bill) Ah Chow was a Chinese-Australian soldier, farmer, fire lookout and legendary bushman of East Gippsland in Victoria. Bill's father, Thomas Ah Chow, was born in Hong Kong in 1834, educated in England, worked initially as a s ...

was a Chinese-Australian who lived in the remote Moscow Villa in the 1940s. *

Rachel Lindgren Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aunt ...

, Jeopardy! champion *Ferdinand Martinů, father of the Czech composer

Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...

, was a shoemaker, also worked as the church sexton and town fire watchman in the tower of the St. Jakub Church in Polička, Bohemia. Furthermore, Bohuslav Martinů was born in said tower. * Margaret Thatcher, worked as a fire lookout in Grantham during the Second World War.

In popular culture

The 2016 video game '' Firewatch'' follows the story of a fire lookout, Henry, in Shoshone National Forest after the

Yellowstone fires of 1988 The Yellowstone fires of 1988 collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Starting as many smaller individual fires, the flames quickly spread out of control due to drought ...

. ‘Desolation Angels’, a semi-autobiographical novel by Jack Kerouac published in 1965, the opening section of which is taken almost directly from the journal Kerouac kept when he was a fire lookout on Desolation Peak in the North Cascade mountains of Washington state.

Additional information

National Historic Lookout RegisterFormer Fire Lookout RegisterForest Fire Lookout Association

References

External links