The Hale Fire Tower

During the 1920s-40s, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Civilian Conservation Corps built 154 fire towers, 100 to 150 feet tall, to spot fires before they got out of control. Hundreds of millions of the trees being protected were grown at the Higgins Lake Nursery and planted around the state. The towers were staffed by lookouts with binoculars whose training and keen eyesight enabled them to pinpoint the exact location of a fire. Using a telephone or radio, they quickly called ground crews to put out the fire. Some lookouts lived alone for days at a time and had to be able to repair broken equipment without outside help. Fire towers became obsolete in the 1960s.

Michigan · United States