More on fire towers in New Jersey

obtained on April 7, 2021 from https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/fire/program/detection.html#

From time to time I like to write about the important role that fire lookout towers play in detecting wildfires in New Jersey. There are 21 fire towers in New Jersey, at least half of all wildfires in New Jersey are reported by fire tower observers (see this NJ Forest Fire Service page for more information including a brief description of each of the 21 fire towers). The lookout towers are staffed today because it is the spring wildfire season and the fire danger has been high of late.

To read about how lookout towers are used to detect wildfires, click on "how do fire towers find and report fires" they say in part

After spotting a fire the attendant uses a tool called an Osborne Fire Finder or an Alidade. This is an indicator or sighting apparatus on a plane table, used in angular measurement. A topographic surveying and mapping instrument with a telescope and graduated vertical circle is used to obtain the radial and distance to a suspected fire. From these measurements he will call in a "Smoke Report." By lining up this machine with the fire they can calculate the direction and bearing of the fire.

I have driven by or hiked by a couple of the towers, for example, Catfish Tower in northern New Jersey and the Lebanon Tower in central New Jersey. I know where the Culvers Tower is but do not recall  hiking on the trail that goes near that tower. 

The New Jersey Herald has a nice story, written by Bruce A. Scruton on published on April 7th, on a visit to the Culvers Fire Tower. The Mr. Scruton's article may be found and it includes a video which I am embedding at the end of this article. Here is a separate link to the video if you have trouble with the embedded video. I never know how long media outlets leave these videos up, it should be up for at least a couple of weeks. I warn you that the New Jersey Herald has a pay wall, but you should be able to read this article for free as you get a couple of free articles each month.

Mr. Scruton visited with Nick Valerio, the attendant at the Culvers Fire Tower. Mr Sruton reports in part

On Monday morning, Valerio stood at his post at the Culvers Tower, paying close attention to his surroundings. It's wildfire season in New Jersey, and the current fire danger is listed as yellow, or high. The spring and fall are the most dangerous for wildfires, said the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, part of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Valerio guards in solitude in the steel tower that replaced the previous wooden one. The Culvers tower is only 47 feet tall, one of the shortest structures in the network. But it is built atop the Kittatinny Ridge, giving the observation deck an elevation of 1,509 feet above sea level, the second-highest in the network.