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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 is spotted, so-called "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.
As part of the Lookout's duties, they must also take weather readings and report the findings to the Emergency Communications Center throughout the day. Often several lookouts will overlap in coverage areas and each will “shoot” the same smoke, then the ECC will use triangulation from the radials reported to achieve a very 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. As trained fire observers, personnel staffing the fire lookout keep an eye out for any fire or weather behavior that could compromise the safety of those on the fire line.
Working in a fire lookout tower in the middle of a wilderness area takes a hardy type of person, one that can work with no suppervision, and able to survive for days, weeks, or months without any other human interaction. Some towers are accessible by automobile, but others are so remote a lookout must hike in, or be lifted in by helicopter. In many locations, even modern fire lookout towers do not have electricity, or running water. Lookouts are known for their imaginative recipes in creating their meals.
Most fire lookout jobs are seasonal through the fire season. Fire Lookouts can be paid-staff or volunteer-staff. Some volunteer organizations around the United States have started to rebuild, restore and operate aging fire lookout towers.
Countries that still use fire lookouts
- USA
- Canada (Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C.)
- Mexico
- Uruguay
- Brazil
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Indonesia
- France
- Italy
- Portugal
- Spain
- Germany
- Latvia
- Israel
- South Africa
Notable fire lookouts
- Hallie Daggett - First USFS woman Fire Lookout
- Helen Dow - Devil's Head Lookout at Pike National Forest (1918)
- Ramona Merwin & family - Vetter Mountain, raised her family in the lookout
- Howard "Razz" Gardner & Keith V. Johnson "The Lookout Air Raid" a little known Japanese aircraft attack of Oregon, USA during World War II
Famous fire lookouts
Famous people who have worked as fire lookouts include:
- Jack Kerouac, whose book The Dharma Bums is partly about his job as a fire lookout in the North Cascades
- Edward Abbey
- Doug Peacock
Additional information
- Fire lookout registry
- California Fire Lookouts
- Lookout Charley, a online photo weblog of a USFS Volunteer Fire Lookout at Vetter Mountain, California
External links
"Fire lookout"