A Brief History of Fire Towers
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- Опубликовано: 29 июн 2021
- Fire Towers are icons of America’s conservation history. Dating back as early as the 19th century, fire lookouts have been keeping watch over America’s public lands for generations now. And although new technologies have come and gone, many fire towers are still in use. And they still play a crucial role in fighting wildfires.
This video is, in many ways, a love letter to these icons of the American wilderness. I trace the complete history of fire towers, from their 19th century roots to their modern-day mythical status. You’ll get to learn about the Osborne Firefinder, the quintessential fire detection device in use for over a century now as well.
You’ll also find an excellent collection of US Forest Service historical photos, showcasing a wide variety of 20th century fire towers, locations, employees, and more. If you’re interested, I’d highly recommend checking out the full album, as only a fraction of them could fit in the video. It truly is a fascinating glimpse into the history of the US Forest Service: www.flickr.com/photos/usfores...
And if you want to learn more about how we fight wildfires on public lands, check out my video on that here: • How to Fight a Wildfire
Enjoy!
This was a great video. Thanks for putting it together. I really enjoyed some of your other videos (Death Valley, Fireflies, The Smokey Mtns.) too. Keep up the good work.
Thanks so much, I'm glad you're enjoying them!
@@NationalParkDiaries ruclips.net/video/DScfnwKLqU0/видео.html Fire Tower in Scioto Trail Chillicothe Ohio
I was thinking about doing this for a couple summers. With how introverted I am, and how in love with nature I am, it sounds like a dream.
I think there's usually a long waiting list
good luck finding a chance to even interview lol
@@tobyjohnson6722 nope there's not firemen and such are needed desperately in these times he can actually get a job in it
@@Phiery Demand for fire fighters and lookouts are not the same. Are you sure you have knowledge of the latter?
@@csn583 damn you got me but that's one good way to get your foot in the door
The game firewatch has you playing as a guy working in a firetower and coming across a mysterious story that unfolds with the game
One of my favorite indie games, very short but very captivating and entertaining
Great game
Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Morbius is the movie
Great game
You showed me something i had only heard stories about from my grandfather about his father, my great-grandfather. A fire tower that was nothing more than a wooden platform built up in a tree. You then went on to describe what my great-grandfather did. Clime down out of the tree. Take his horse, a few tools and go and try to put out the fire. my Grampa had the field glasses and USFS issued knife he had used. His initials were scratched into them.
On July 25, 1923 my grandfather was born in a remote USFS guard station. In the summers of 1939-40 he was a fire lookout in a tall metal watch tower. All of this was in Siskiyou County CA.
This topic was a lovely surprise. Keep up the good work 💜🙏⚡️
Sounds like he had quite the experience, that's awesome. Thanks for watching.
Your grandpa was born in a fire tower?
Great video. I am glad you were able to share information about the history of fire lookouts with your audience. They play such a key roll in forest management, especially in the west. Did you know that 25% of all the lookouts in the lower 48 were in Idaho alone!
Thank you! And no, I did not know that, thanks for sharing!
Huh, this was really cool! I've seen these fire towers in different movies and games, but never in real life, so I thought it was kind of odd. Thanks for explaining it, I now look at them with fondness and respect for an era since past!
Glad I could help! They're such an interesting piece of US conservation history!
3:25 that aircraft is astonishing what a beautiful lump of engineering! Never seen anything like it before
The aircraft, although I cant tell what specifically, is most likely an Auto gyro. Auto gyros are very unique, albeit very real.
Regular airplane uses large wing to generate lift. Auto gyro uses rotor blades to generate lift like a helicopter, but unlike a helicopter, its rotor blades are unpowered, not connected to the engine. The rotor spins freely by simply having some airflow over it.
You can see that the engine of the plane is located at the front with the propeller. It would be very unfeasible by design to have that engine power the rotor blade directly above the pilot's right. The supporting tripod rod are simply there to hold up the rotor.
You can also see the wing is very thin and short in comparison to say WW2 fighter planes which often have large wide wing. While those small wings can generate some lift, the rotor blade is the largest source of lift. The wings are most likely present to stabilize the plane instead.
In addition, its hard to "crash" auto gyros. In event of an engine failure, normally planes would fall out of the sky, but because the auto gyro helicopter rotor blade spins as air flows through it, falling faster would simply mean the rotor would spin faster. If the rotor spins fast, it would generate lift. As such, auto gyro would fall at a slow velocity where you could land safely.
Auto gyro enjoyed a brief time of small popularity before being overshadowed by advancing jet engine technology and better powered helicopters couple decades after WW2. It is still used today largely by flying enthusiasts. Its cheap to build (literally a free-spinning rotor blade with a small engine and a propeller at front/back) and safer to use.
@@akyer8085 "Am I too late for the 4:30 Auto Gyro?" - Mr. Burns.
ruclips.net/video/BvQpdb2jGgs/видео.html
@@akyer8085 Sounds interesting but light planes definitely dont just drop out of the sky upon engine failure. When a plane loses its engine, most of the time the pilot can glide it down pretty well. Some planes like gliders dont even have an engine, and instead use air currents to glide for hours at a time.
@@andrewanderson8803 That is true. However, Auto gyro requires a shorter runway to take off and land - the faster the Auto gyro goes, the faster the rotor spins, and thus the more lift it generates. This means Auto Gyro can fly at a much slower velocity, making it significantly safer.
But the degree of additional safety this makes is not huge - it would be treated more like a small bonus instead of a significant reason to choose Auto Gyro over light/ultralight planes.
As I lightly mentioned before, there is a pretty good reason why Auto Gyro isn't as popular as light planes nowadays. Some even favored ultralight planes over Auto gyros, and I can't disagree.
Wiki search revealed that James Ketchell (UK) circumnavigated the globe in 2019 in an autogyro. Also, they seem to be popular for air touring vacation sites, mostly solo. See Gyrocopter Girl on RUclips.
If I was allowed to have summer homes in the US, I'd buy every fire tower so I'd always have an incredible view of the surrounding area
lol
Hello supreme leader
Just buy through a pro communist proxy
Exactly the Video I was looking for, excellent and well done sir. Thank you
Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
Mother Nature in 1910: causes drought and brings hurricane-force winds to the interior northwest that started the Big Blowup
Firefighters: *We didn't start the fire! No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it*
Please keep making content dude im so happy I found this channel extremely useful info
I'm not planning on stopping, thanks for being here!
@@NationalParkDiaries Thanks a lot for your work, it's always a treat for me to tune a video of yours on the side when I'm doing something else
Love the channel name and the topics it covers 👍🏻
@@SanilJadhav711 thanks so much Sanil!
My 10th grade earth and space science teacher, Mr. Tice, was a Park Ranger for a long time when he got out of college in the late 60’s. He worked at a bunch of parks out west. Since I had him the year he was retiring Mr. Tice would break out his old photo slides of the parks he had taken and spend all class showing them off. I remember some of the photos he took from fire towers. The views were absolutely breathtaking!
What an experience! I bet that was incredible!
My family always went and climbed at least one of the towers in Door County when we'd head there for vacation. Lots of memories braving those heights (at least how high they felt for an 8y/o!) and the wonderful views over the Bay and Lake Michigan
I'll rent out a tower about twice a year, when I can get a reservation, even spotted a smoker last time for a new fire. these are worth maintaining and always a joy to use. there is no sleeping in when you have four glass walls, the sun rises early. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Sounds like a blast, have fun!
Got recommended this in my feed right before rtgames Firewatch playthrough... super cool!
My great uncle worked, I believe, at the fire tower that is now Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory on Peter's Mountain near the VA-WV line. Sadly, the original structure was burned by vandals in the mid 90s, but it is cool to be able to stand where he did.
Incredible channel.
Thank you!
Had the opportunity to climb many old firetowers on the Appalachian trail.
Loved that.
Thanks so much!
I visited the fire tower on Mount Washburn and Yellowstone. The park service has fixed it up so it is now not only a fire tower but also a visitor observation tower. The view was absolutely breathtaking.
I always appreciate when these pieces of our conservation history are preserved like that. It's a great way to interpret the history of structures that were/are so important to the American West.
This video is a perfect example of how to explain a topic in the perfect amount of detail. I love fire towers, they've always been so fascinating to me
Thank you, glad you liked it!
If you're looking up hikes and it leads to a fire tower, you know you're going to be treated to an incredible view at the end of that hike.
You should work on incorporating low audio music into your videos, it would improve the quality of your video. I felt informed on the topic about fire towers and I was very engaged. You're video was excellent, keep up the good work.
Thanks Kyle! That was one of my earlier videos and I have since started incorporating background music. Thanks for your feedback!
For some reason I was expecting you to reference the game Firewatch
My great grandma worked in one out on the far end of their property next to Glacier National Park. I went out there once, the tower is gone, but the foundation is still there.
I'm sure that was an incredible experience for her!
Did your family build it since it was on their property?
Well done thanks 😊
Thanks for watching!
Most fire lookouts in oregon are now rented out as a getaway destination and are booked entirelly the day openings become available
I used to live in a small town that still used for towers in the summer. At least they did about 6 or 7 years ago. I delivered mail in that town and I heard a customer on my route talking about their son "working fire watch" that summer. I'm not sure if they were paid or not, but it seemed like a pretty cool gig to me. We also had a TON of wild fire firefighters that lived in forest service housing during the summer there. I knew a few of them that only worked that job and had the rest of the year off because they made their 40-50k and just lived off of that for the rest of the year. Not too bad if you know how to make it work!
My favorite would be Hahn's Peak north of Steamboat lake
Initially I thought this was too specific of a topic to find a video on but I always wanted to know about these.
Glad I could help!
*starts humming the Firewatch theme*
Way under-viewed channel
Thanks! It's been getting a bit more attention here recently so that's exciting!
Very cool video, thanks so much. As a former wildland fire fighter, I found this super interesting.
Thanks for watching!
Regularly visit the old Black Hill fire tower here in Elk Neck Maryland. Best view in the whole area.
My grandmother was a firelook out for a tower in the Sierra Nevadas (close to Shirley Meadows) and she'd have kids visit on field trips. A big part of that was having plenty of Smokey the Bear coloring books and whatnot. I looked for her tower online recently and sadly it looks like it was burned down in a wildfire a few years ago.
Very cool story, thanks for sharing. I bet your grandmother had some great stories as well!
Thanks for the great video and information I've recently moved to the Missouri Ozarks and seen 2 of these towers 1 I drive by quite frequently very old you can tell but now it looks like cell service has been using it for our telephone services now
Thanks for watching! I always like coming across these when I'm out exploring as well. There's one in my local state forest that I like hiking to.
they will also be very suitable for a Zombie survival context
A great video the country that I live in NC.had three fire tower's that I remembered I think one of them is still standing
Thank you!
In the late 1980’s early 1990’s I brought pre-cut log homes into the north Maine woods to replace the old homes at look out towers out in the middle of nowhere in the woods !
This channel is so damn underrated
Thanks for being here!
@@NationalParkDiaries thanks for putting out the info
My mom grew up about 1/2 a mile from one. The lookout would let her siblings go up to the top of the tower and throw tin lids off like frisbees. Now it’s abandoned and all the stairs knocked out.
I grew up in the needles fire lookout one of the coolest parts of my life.
That's awesome.
It's sad that it burned down in 2011.
This reminds me of growing up in northern Alberta Mackenzie county in the 1960s and we had a forestry tower half mile from us
They're incredible pieces of conservation history. So cool!
This shit went! Good job.
Thank you!
Im scared of heights but those towers in nature look so interesting to climb and look at the endless forests
They're a really fascinating and beautiful part of our conservation heritage. There are still some you can climb/visit!
I’m glad that there are still some fire towers are still operating. Tech are aircraft are good, but I would still prefer an alert human.
You should do video on hot springs national park in Arkansas, as it was first national reserve I believe
I love hiking up to these in the Adirondacks. If any wants to play an amazing game about firetowers, play Firewatch. You wont regret it.
You should do a video about rocky mountain National Park
Heading there in September and planning a video while I'm there!
Im fairly certain the firetower near me is of the LL25 variety
I live near a super crazy big fire tower. It’s got like two sea containers as the base and is the wide all the way up
Sick hands free device 07:00 ish.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
🙌🙌🙌
Are there any paid fire lookout positions available currently? Id love to get into this for a summer. Is it realistic for me to be able to obtain one of these jobs?
Not super knowledgeable on that subject, but this thread seems to be a good starting point if you're interested in lookout jobs: www.reddit.com/r/firelookouts/comments/aou1m3/want_to_get_a_fire_lookout_job_here_are_the_basics/
Best of luck!
@@NationalParkDiaries thankyou!
@@bomberbeast4957 its very difficult to get a position but good luck
they are important landmarks never the less
What did he mean by "however misguided that may have been" in regard to conservation efforts using firetowers?
Hey there! That was in reference to fire suppression efforts on public lands over the last century or so. We now know that some landscapes are adapted to fire or have historically been managed with it, and complete fire suppression leads to a dangerous buildup of fuels that contribute to our current wildfires being incredible large and destructive. Through practices like prescribed burning, where we intentionally set fires to manage landscapes, we can reduce our reliance on complete fire suppression as a fire management tactic. Thanks for your question!
@@NationalParkDiaries oh, okay, thank you! I watched your "how we put out wildfires on public lands" video and that also helped a lot.
@@terrortalks3037 No problem, thanks for watching!
Npd, what's your opinion on far cry 5?
Haven't played it yet. Maybe I'll get to it someday lol
Firewatch fans: *NEURON ACTIVATION*
I hate the move to replace people with machines. Cameras and drones are cool and very useful, but nothing beats the Mark I Eyeball for detecting trouble. A digital image will never be as good as having a person physically there and looking around. Sure, it's a great tool -- if you see something and your binocs can't resolve it for sure, send out a drone to get there fast and see what's going on! But that's not a replacement for the lookout, it's just an enhancement to the lookout's capability.
By the way, a firefinder determines a bearing, not a heading. Heading is the direction a ship or airplane is pointing; bearing is the direction to a thing you're looking at. A bearing can be absolute (direction as compared to north) or relative (direction compared to your current heading, like "twelve degrees port" or "ten o'clock"), but relative bearings generally don't make sense in the context of a fixed structure. (There's also course, the actual direction your vessel is moving, which is rarely exactly the same as heading because of the movement of wind and water.)
Ah Fire Towers, nature's sniping nest.
Anyone think of the tower from Days Gone that you live in?
Definitely. Too bad I don't have a motorcycle to go with it.
no reference to the driving force was the lumber industry on private land. These towers and lands were taken over by the government in the 20 and later.
My dad and I went on a drive out into the mountains a few years ago. We took a turn and followed a track to find a fire watchtower on a mountaintop. We climbed a huge stack of basically rocks and boulders elsewhere in the area. The watchtower was great to see in person. A square wood shack with one room, on a big metal stand, and windows on all sides with the shutters propped up. It was unoccupied at the moment we were there, with the stairway gate closed up and locked. There was foundation work being done next to it on the mountaintop for a new tower, so I guess that one's time was coming to an end. What a place that was though.
Incredible. These are such great reminders of our conservation history. I love learning about them and hearing everyone's stories from them.
7:00 Is that a "fire"side chat? 😄
Firewatch anyone?
I applied for a seasonal fire tower job. Got an interview but didn’t get the job ☹️
Bummer! Best of luck next time!
enter: Ed pulaski!
Dharma Bums, dawg.
👀👀👀👀
WHAT ABOUT THE STAIRS!!!!!!!
Fun fact you only need a high school diploma
To become a fire watch.
And it pays good as well 74,500 medium
Maximum is 91,000 a year
Not so fun fact, when my grandma was a fire lookout ,the forest service barely paid her enough to cover the gas money it took her to drive up to the fire tower.
i would like to work in a fire tower for a few years
Почему я здесь?
An 8 minute long video and not one mention of Ranger Gord.
Shame.
Always remember we must repent of our sins (sin is transgression The Law Of Yahuah The Father in Heaven. The Law are The Books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy). We must repent of our sins and Have Belief On Yahusha The Messiah. HE Died and Rose three days later so that we can be forgiven of our sins!
Come to HIM🙂🙂🙂