Forest Service reverses decision to close historic Colby Mountain Lookout
The historic Colby Mountain Fire Lookout will remain staffed and operational for fire season after the decision to close it was reversed.
Chico Enterprise-Record
A Century of Sentries
Weathering 100 years of change, the soul of Northwest Montana lookouts endures.
https://flatheadbeacon.com/2026/03/27/a-century-of-sentries/.
Birdseye View – Fire Lookouts Then and Now
The Summer issue of PT Leader, a quarterly travel magazine in Port Townsend, WA had lookouts as its cover story. The writer interviewed Washington FFLA Director John Hearing, as well as Ray Kresek. The article is mostly focused on the Olympic Peninsula and Northwestern Washington; not necessarily on active lookouts.
The feature runs on pages 40-47 of the issue that can be viewed at https://www.ptleader.com/stories/lifestyle-summer-2025,219886.
Don’t write off humans when it comes to spotting forest fires in WA
Recent opinion piece in the Seattle Times from FFLA Washington Director John Hearing — “Trained fire spotters stand watch in many countries around the globe. In the U.S., there used to be 8,000-plus fire lookout towers, but today there are just over 2,500 fire lookout structures still standing and a mere 92 here in Washington.
Professionals and volunteers remain, watching the forest, mountains and landscape every fire season. This job can be boring and challenging, but nearly every day these lookouts spot something they suspect is a fire. Some staffed lookout locations spot and report five to 10 — or more — fires over a summer fire season.”
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/dont-write-off-humans-when-it-comes-to-spotting-forest-fires-in-wa/?
Capilla Peak Lookout – Dixie Boyle
This video from the US Forest Service – Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands illustrates FFLA New Mexico Chapter Director Dixie Boyle hard at work at Capilla Peak Lookout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ree8xQ5FuGQ
Human Lookouts vs. The Robots
A 35 Year Lookout Veteran Gives His Perspective
In this podcast on The Hotshot Wakeup page, FFLA member Zeyn O’Leary discusses current and future detection technology, compared to the human eyes that have been looking out for decades.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/human-lookouts-v-s-the-robots-a-35-year-lookout/id1614690223?i=1000699993462
Lookout Towers of Indiana
FFLA Indiana Chapter Director Teena Ligman gave a presentation titled LOOKOUT TOWERS OF INDIANA for the Monroe County History Club. The program gave an overview of the lookout towers in Indiana from the first tower in the 1920’s to 33 towers in 1952 and what towers are still standing today. Teena explains the towers’ role in helping to save and restore Indiana’s forest land and how over time that role changed.
https://youtu.be/lFA178YM934?feature=shared
UI graduate students develop website that explores fire lookout system
Website developed by University of Idaho graduate students explores the state’s historic, yet also modern, fire lookout system:
https://www.dnews.com/stories/ui-graduate-students-develop-website-that-explores-fire-lookout-system-page_224
Black Mountain Lookout: The Best View In The Bighorns Has Seen Better Days
The 84-year-old Black Mountain Fire Lookout sits at an elevation of 9,400 feet and offers a spectacular panoramic view of Wyoming’s northern Bighorns. Although it’s been boarded up for decades, the Forest Service is hoping it can be fixed and opened to the public:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/11/09/black-mountain-lookout-the-best-view-in-the-bighorns-has-seen-better-days/
Legendary Lookout Retires
It was the end of an era when legendary lookout “Lightning Bill” Austin finished his career September 20th after 34 seasons on central Washington lookouts, the last thirty on Goat Peak and Leecher Mountain overlooking the Methow Valley. Two area publications featured Bill:
https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nwmagazine/wa-fire-spotter-lightning-bill-isliterally-stepping-down-from-his-post/ and
https://methowvalleynews.com/2024/08/29/lightning-bill-comes-in-fromthe-storms/
Last of the Lookouts
Canadian Geographic recently featured one of the last remaining staffed lookouts in British Columbia:
https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/last-of-the-lookouts/
The history hidden in the new lives of fire lookouts
Several FFLA members were quoted in this story on avenues to preserve a dwindling number of the historical fire lookout structures:
https://montanafreepress.org/2024/09/26/the-history-hidden-in-the-new-lives-offire-lookouts/
Life in the Sky: History of Fire Lookouts
Northwest Montana Lookout Association members worked with
Montana Senior News for this story:
https://www.montanaseniornews.com/life-in-the-sky-history-of-fire-lookouts/
Top of the world: Idaho Fire Lookouts project traces the legacy of forest fire spotters
The Idaho Fire Lookouts project, led by Cat House and Billy Cooter, was highlighted in this feature story:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/jul/05/top-of-the-world-idaho-fire-lookouts-project-trace/
50 Years atop Stratton Mountain
Hugh and Jean Joudry tell about 50 years on a Vermont mountaintop:
https://youtu.be/XoelJudJqAc?si=YFB7HNip-8-DAMJ8
Technology can detect wildfires. Do humans still have to?
An article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation discusses the role of fire lookouts in our increasingly technology-obsessed world. The key paragraph of the story is something many in the US need to hear: “Last year, Alberta tested six systems that used a combination of cameras, sensors, AI and machine learning, to detect wildfires. The human lookout beat out all the tech for the highest detection rate.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/fire-tower-lookouts-wildfires-technology-detection-human-response-better-1.7186030
Behind the scenes: New Jersey’s Blue Anchor Fire Tower in Camden County
One of New Jersey Forest Fire Service’s twenty-one fire towers:
America’s Fire Spotters Aren’t Ready to Fade Away Just Yet
New York Times Reporter Raymond Zhong and Photographer Mark Felix visited the Flathead National Forest and hiked through miles of Montana backcountry to spend some time at Thoma Lookout with FFLA’s Leif Haugen. They did a great article:
​https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/climate/wildfire-lookouts-fire-towers.html