Walker Bank Building Lookout
Salt Lake City Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah, July 14, 1941
Forest Service Opens S.L. Fire Lookout
Erected as a safety precaution against forest fires, a fire lookout station was in operation atop the Walker Bank building Monday with operators on duty 12 hours a day to spot possible conflagrations in Salt Lake valley forest areas.
Long contemplated by officials of the forest service, the lookout station will be maintained jointly by the Salt Lake City water department and the United States forest service.
Jay M. Hamilton of Salt Lake City has been employed to occupy the station as lookout and will have at his disposal facilities connecting him directly with the forest service fire dispatcher, J. F. Gurr, Wasatch forest supervisor said Sunday.
The lofty height of the Walker Bank building and its centralized location will afford the lookout a clear view of the entire valley, and enable him to spot fires "almost instantly," Mr. Gurr said. The lookout will be maintained from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m., the period during which forest fires usually occur, the official said.
Mr. Gurr said there have been only a minimum of forest fires in this area during 1941, most of those which have occurred being minor grass fires near Ensign peak.
The lookout station was established to cut down further the possibilities of a major fire in the vast forest areas in the valley, Mr. Gurr asserted.