One of the things I enjoy is getting a sense of some the people involved in wildland firefighting. To that end, when I find something interesting, usually a video I will share it here. I have shared many videos from wildland fire crews summarizing their fire season, other times I have shared videos about smokejumpers, and tanker and helo pilots. This time around the video I am sharing is about a gentlemen named Leif Haugen who at the time the film was shot in 2011, has worked as a seasonal fire lookout since 2014. According to
The Missoulian (April 2, 2012), the Thoma lookout, built in 1930 was restored and then reopened as a fire lookout in 2010. Leif transferred to the Thoma lookout in the 2010 summer season. Leif is a contractor when he is not a fire lookout and was involved in restoring the Thoma Fire Lookout. To the best of my knowledge, Leif is still the fire lookout at the Thoma Fire Lookout.
To read a little more about Leif, check out this
Spring/Summer 2013 article from American Forests.
In 2011, Brian Bolster of Stories from Big Sky Country made a film about Leif's daily life as a solitary fire lookout. Brian is the director and cameraman, he won the Big Sky Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in 2012.
This video is a little over 15 minutes. I got a sense of Leif, and his summer work as a fire lookout. His love for the Thoma fire lookout, staffing the lookout in the summers and the mountains is clear. Brian's videography is fantastic. Enjoy.
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