I've only ever climbed up a single fire watch tower, it was in Asheville, NC the night before I got married. I've always had a fascination for lookout towers. There's something alluring about them thats hard to explain. I think it has something to do with the importance of the job juxtaposed with the solitude and the lookouts connection with nature. A symbol that predates modern technology, where having a person sitting in a tower was the only way to know if a fire had started or was spreading. Humans have been using lookouts like these towers for centuries, whether it was in search of food, or keeping an eye out for invaders, the concept of a lookout tower is nothing new, yet somehow still intriguing.
We were on our way to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, trying to catch the sunset when I saw a little green lookout tower sign with an arrow. I've seen dozens of these on our travels, but I've never seen a tower this close to a road, just 30 feet or so. The little kid in me got excited knowing I might get to climb up it and see inside.
As we approached, the tower looked really tall compared to others i'd seen in the past. Just before the stairs, stood a forest service sign that said 'you can climb it... but at your own risk'! There were a few additional signs that told some facts about the tower as well as some history.
The Facts
Located in Kaibab National Forest, this lookout tower was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and manufactured by a windmill company called Aermotor, model MC-39. It's constructed of steel and features a 7x7' cab with an Osborne fire-finder. It is still manned and in used for fire detection today.
Coordinates: 36.699660, -112.212943 at an elevation of 8,130'
The Ascent
From the ground, the tower doesn't look all that tall, but, being afraid of heights, you're guaranteed to notice going up! My voice was shaking as I told Sabrina to watch her step... The higher up we went, the more windier it got. Although the tower never shook, I had to take it one step at a time and focus my gaze to the horizon, rather than looking down! After several flights of narrowing steps, we reached the top and attempted to go into the cab. Sabrina pushed twice before we heard a voice!
The Interview
"Hello! We didn't know anyone was up here, are you a fire lookout?"
Hi! Yes I am, but I'm not allowed to have visitors up in the cab with me at the moment, due to covid, but I'll stick my head out this window and we can chat. My name is Warren!
"Hi Warren, we're Wes & Sabrina! Although I am up here, I am afraid of heights!"
This is about as tall as lookout towers get, this one is 100 feet call, despite the sign down there that says its 80 feet tall. We have another one that is 126 feet tall. Thats because you have to see right above the tree line. This tower is not meant for living in, the office is just 7x7'.
"So you're up here daily?"
Yup, I'm up here 10 hours a day 6 days a week, 10 months of the year.
"Did you sign up for that via the forest service?"
Its advertised through the forest service, but done through the same hiring process as all government jobs. USAjobs.gov. I worked for several years fire fighting, so thats a pretty normal way to get into it, or if you happen to have a BS degree in some kind of outdoor forest management, you can qualify right in. I have a degree in Ancient Greek...
"On a day like today, where the fire risk is considered "Very High" is your job different today than a typical day?"
Today is, for example, the fire danger is very high, that is to say that if a fire were to start then the risk of spread would be very high, but the likelihood a fire would start on a day like today when theres no lightning in the forecast and theres fire restrictions, so folks theoretically can't be making fires. The likelihood of getting a start is very low, so I don't have to be as alert on days where theres not as high likelihood. On weekends I'm more alert as theres just more people, and unfortunately not everyone listens to the restrictions.
"Is this a windy day?"
This is a windy day for the fall but a medium day in general. In the spring we'll get continuous winds of 30mph. It sways, but not as much as you'd expect. It will wobble if the wind hits it the right way but they are pretty solid.
"When was this built?"
This one was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the same people who did a lot of trails in the park. It's actually manufactured by a windmill company, as the demand for windmills diminished they reached out to some other fields/markets. Especially in the great depression they would have made a lot of these.
"Would there always have been one in eyesight?"
The ideal would have been to reach eyesight, but in order to reach this... it's impossible. Theres too many miles, staffing and typography is difficult, you'd have to have hundreds and hundreds of lookouts to have a true continuous vision.
My effective landscape that I'm accountable for fires for is a 25 miles radius from here, but on a clear day I can see for 116 miles. I'm covering the Kaibab forest, on the plateau here, so thats about 25 miles from the look out tower. I'll still call other fires that I see that are further out, but if I call in a fire thats 75 miles out in Utah, usually someone else has already called it in.
"How often are you calling fires in?"
It depends on the weather and the season, right now, in late summer/early fall its pretty slow, I haven't called in a fire in about a month.
"Do you have a phone line, or do you call in using cellular?"
I do have a cell phone and I get cell service up here, some of the other towers do not, but the primary communication is over radio. I'm working with a dispatch center in Williams Arizona, which is over 100 miles to the south, on the other side of the Grand Canyon. They are managing the entire Kaibab National Forest, which continues across the canyon as well. There are local engines here that I'll talk to as well, but it's all centralized through dispatch.
"What do you do to pass time?"
I read a lot... and uhh... you know... just stare out the window a lot. I listen to radio a lot. But I cant do too much of any one thing or I'll start to go crazy, a mixture I'd say.
"I dont know if you've played the game firewatch?"
Oh yeah yeah, once I have, I would say maybe this is a little bit more boring than the game.
"How long do you plan on doing this for then?"
At least another season but it's tricky you know, working lookouts, it's not a career. Technology, like video and satellites is making this job pretty uncommon. They usually keep the buildings up, but just no longer staffing them.
"We heard on the west coast they are turning them into bookable rooms that you can sleep in for a night?"
Exactly, that wouldn't happen with a tower like this (because of its size), but increasing technology in the forest service is definitely changing and a reason for fewer and fewer lookouts. the functions satellites and recon plans are using, some lookouts are installed with cameras, but its not as simple as that. There a definite advantages and disadvantages to each. It's nice to have a person in a tower to talk to, and fallback for communication. I do a ton of corrective communications when two parties cannot hear each other in the forest.
"Is everything solar?"
The only power I have is the solar panels, there use to be a power cable that ran from the ground, but they removed that a while ago. The solar just powers my radio up here, I don't have a charger. I have a computer and cell service, so some internet.
"Are you able to come down and go home every night?"
Yep! I live about a mile away from here. Next season I'll be working on a tower a bit more remote and theres a cabin at the bottom, so thats kind of nice.
"Do some towers and people sleep in the cab?"
It's a different kind of lookout, they are known to have a bed and stove, some even have wood stoves to keep it warm. I could sleep up here, but it doesn't have all the amenities.
"How often do you get visitors?"
Very frequent. This tower is so close to the highway, so a lot of people just drop in not knowing a lot about fire towers. A lot of people think it's a cell tower. On Weekends I really notice the ebbs and flows. I've been up here in the middle of my 5th month, so I like chatting at this point.
"Did you take the job to get solitude?"
Yeah I like solitude, and working a lookout you'll definitely get it! There's not all that much I have to do except be alert and react if and when I see something. I mean its not all the time, but fires do happen.
"What about watching fires at night, when you go home?"
At night, there could be fires, but with the drop in temp the rate of spread goes down dramatically. For most months of the year it's very rare you get a fire that pops up in the night time. So it works in our favor so I can go and come back up in the morning.
"Is there any weather transmission that happens from here?"
I make personal weather observations I submit officially once a morning. But there is a remote automated station in the area, 1 mile away. It's called the warm springs canyon remote automated weather station. If you were to google that you'd get real time weather observations are. There's a whole network through the states of these.
"Thank you so much for sharing - its not every day you climb up one and speak to someone whose a fire lookout, do you mind if I get a photo?"
Not at all!
