Day in the Fire Tower


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This the tower we work at in the San Bernardino National Forest. There are 6 fire towers in this national forest that are all staffed by volunteers.

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One of our views. This one is of Lake Arrowhead. In the distance where the hills are brown is due to a forest fire a couple years ago the burned that entire area. The views from the towers are just spectacular. The last day we worked the temperature hit 98 degrees at our house but in the tower a few times we got cold and closed windows.

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This was one visitor who flew by. If you look close you will see he is waving. This is a glider it is not an ultralight. He was just playing in the drafts caused by the heat and the mountains.

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We get many different types of visitors to the tower. Families, hikers, regulars who bring visitors up. Here Karen explains to them how we spot fires, locate them with the old Osborne spotter in the center of the picture and then call them in. Luckily we haven't spotted any so far this year.

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The end of a long day in the tower. Here the sunset reflects off the glass of the tower.