More on Fire Towers in New Jersey

I am a fan of fire towers in New Jersey because the spotters in the towers help to spot and report wildfires, sometimes when they are still small. On a section of the Appalachian Trail in Warren County NJ where I used to hike when I had better knees, I would pass the Catfish Fire Tower (go here to see a photo). Knowing the good work that fire tower observers in New Jersey do, I was very pleased to see this report on NJ fire towers from WHYY. 

Direct link to June 5th video from WHYY on Youtube.

1st Female Fire Observer for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service

As some of you know, I have an interest in the role of women in fighting wildfires and as well as providing support services for wildfires. I was especially interested when I came across a Facebook post by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service about Julia Cramer, the first female fire observer for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service in 1921, she was nineteen years of age and served in the Batso Fire Tower in what is now the Wharton State Forest in the New Jersey Pinelands. I applaud Julia for her service and for being one of early women working for the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.  

NJ Forest Fire Service's Lakewood NJ Fire Tower Decommissioned

 

The NJ Forest Fire Service decommissioned the Lakewood Fire Tower in early July. The fire tower was built in 1944 on land that was leased by the State of New Jersey. The owner of the property that the Lakewood Fire Tower sits on is ending and they want the tower removed. For more information on the decommissioning of the Lakewood Fire Tower, the adjacent lands and plans to build a new fire tower in Jackson Township, see this July 11th article on New Jersey Advance Media.

Direct link to video from NJ.com (NJ Advance Media) on YouTube

New Jersey Forest Fire Service: Catfish Fire Tower

Back when my knees were in better shape I did a lot of day hiking in and near the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on sections of the Appalachian Trail as well as other trails. One of my favorite trails was the loop up to the Catfish Fire Tower is a moderate hike up the ridge via a loop trail, go here to access a trail map and description of the trails. The ridge is beautiful and I recommend the hike to the Catfish Fire Tower (aka Fire Lookout Towers) and beyond. While it has been years since I hiked that trail, I have clear memories of seeing the Fire Tower from the trail. It is awesome.

The Catfish Fire Tower is one of several Fire Towers operated by the NJ Forest Fire Service to detect wildfires. You can see from the NJFFS map of NJ Forest Fire Service Lookout Tower Locations that all three NJFFS Divisions are well represented by Fire Lookout Towers.

Obtained on August 16, 2023 from https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/fire/docs/towerlocations.pdf

2021 NJ wildfire season: Bass River Fire Tower’s role in Little Egg Harbor wildfire

One of the New Jersey Forest Fire Towers whose observer played a crucial role in spotting the Ballanger Fire that burned 617 acres on May 16th and 17th near Little Egg Harbor Township (Burlington and Ocean Counties), NJ was the Bass River Tower located in Bass River State Forest in the New Jersey Pinelands (aka the NJ Pine Barrens). According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (go here for link to the NJFFS page on fire towers), The Bass River Fire Tower (located in NJFFS Division B) was built in 1937 and is 80 feet tall. Before I get the important role of this fire tower in spotting the Ballanger Fire, a little history is in order.

Up until early 2020, the Bass River Fire Tower was surrounded on three sides by 80 to 100 foot tall White Pines, planted by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In recent years, these trees had grown to a height blocking the views from the cab of the fire tower in three directions (east, north and south). This made spotting some wildfires from this fire tower very difficult. A few years ago, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection -- the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is under the umbrella of the DEP -- started the process to get approvals to clear cut about 16 acres of tree around the fire tower to improve the view from the cab of the fire tower. Objections to clear cutting were raised by citizens, some local government officials, and some environmental organizations (including the Sierra Club) resulting in a delay in getting the necessary approvals. In 2019,  the Pinelands Commission approved the clear cutting plan and clear cutting operations began in January of 2020. You may read more about the clear cut on this January 2020 article in the Atlantic City Press (paywall with a couple of free views).

Once the clear cut was completed, sometime in 2020, there were good views in 360 degrees from the cab of the Bass River Fire Tower. The importance of this controversial clear cut was highlighted by the fact that the observer in the Bass River Fire Tower was able to spot the Ballanger Fire fairly quickly after the fire ignited on May 16th. There is a nice article from the by Douglas D. Melegari of the Pinebarrens Tribune about the role of the Bass River Fire Tower's observers on May 16th. He quotes Trevor Raynor, warden from NJFFS Section B:

In January of last year, the clear-cut finally took place, and the role the Bass River Fire Tower played in detecting the May 16 “Ballanger Fire” that consumed 617 acres of the Bass River State Forest in both Bass River and Little Egg Harbor townships, according to NJFFS Section B Firewarden Trevor Raynor, in response to a question posed by this newspaper during a May 18 NJFFS teleconference with the media, “was super important.”

 

“This fire tower was only a few miles away (from the blaze) and was able to detect this fire quickly and avert disaster, honestly,” Raynor said. “If we used any other system, or relied on 911 for this fire’s detection, by the time that this fire would have been detected and reported (to us) by 911 (dispatch), it would have been at the back of people’s houses, and then it would have been too late, and surely there would have been damage to homes.” 

 

 

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.

About a Fire Lookout in Northwestern Montana (circa 2011)

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. 

Direct link to The Lookout by Brian Bolster

A look at the life of a fire lookout

direct link to video on Youtube

Fire towers and their lookouts are a vanishing breed, as regular readers know we have a fire towers around New Jersey. A September 15th article on NPR by Nathan Rott, "A Fire Lookout On What's Lost in a Transition to Technology" caught my eye this morning. The article is about Phillip Connors who has been a fire lookout in the Gila National Forest for 17 summers. Phillip is also an author, having written three books, two of them based on his experiences as a fire lookout. I just got his first book, Fire Season, and look forward to reading it.

Gila National Forest has ten fire lookouts. Hikers who pass his way often ask him about satellites and drones, this is how he responded to that question in Rott's article.

'I often feel I'm in a position of having to defend my very existence here,' he says. 'People just sort of assume that the technology has advanced to a point where it would make me totally obsolete' 

There are, he says, many things he can do that a drone can't. He can sit in a tower for an entire day, watching and studying a fire's behavior. He can serve as eyes and as a communication link for fire crews working in the region's rugged terrain. He can apply his experience to put a fire in context and communicate about it in ways only a human can. 

'At $14 and change an hour, I'm also pretty cheap,'  he says.

In addition to getting to know Connor, you will also learn a little about the history of fire towers. I encourage you to spend a few minutes reading the article, there are some very nice images in the article, including some historic photos.

Fire lookouts up close and personal

Enjoy these two videos about fire lookouts.

In the first video you will visit the Pickett Butte Lookout Tower. It is an active fire lookout during fire season in the Umpqua Natonal Forest in the Cascades in Oregon. It is utilized as a fire lookout during the summer from approximately July 15 through October 1 and is available for rent the rest of the time.


Direct link to video from Seatlleleet

You will hear from fire watcher Shirley Payne in the last video. Shirley is a U.S.F.S fire lookout who has staffed the Baker Butte fire lookout near Pine Arizona for 24 years.


Direct link to video From the AZCentral and the Arizona Republic

Boucher Hill Fire Tower - San Diego County CA

Enjoy this video from ABC10 in San Diego about the recently reopened Boucher Hill Fire Tower in Palomar Mountain State Park in southern California. This is one of three recently reopened Fire Towers in the area.



Direct link to video from ABC10

Catfish Fire Tower (NJ)

Anyone who has hiked on the Appalachian Trail (AT) has probably walked by the Catfish Fire Tower. For those of you who live in or visit northern New Jersey and are interested in hiking the AT to the Catfish Fire Tower, it is not a long hike going south on the AT from the parking area on State Highway 602 about a 15 minute drive from Blairstown NJ. There is also a nice loop hike you can take where you will walk back to the parking area on the AT you will walk by the fire tower, the New York New Jersey Trail Conference has a description of this loop hike with auto directions that may be found here. I have not done this loop trail in several years, but this was a regular hike when I was younger with younger knees. I'd recommend it. 

It is also visible from the air, and since I know that it is there and where it is, it isn't too hard for me to find from the air as long as I am paying attention. I have seen this fire tower on many of the flights I have taken with my pilot friends when we flew up the Appalachian Ridge from the Delaware Water Gap.

Just this morning, I found a nice short article from New Jersey Monthly on Bob Wollf of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service who is the current fire observer at the Catfish Fire Tower.  Here is an excerpt where he describes part of a typical day at the fire tower:

Wolff begins his daily eight-hour shift at about 10 am, when the temperature increases, the wind picks up and humidity drops. Settling in, he switches on the radio and reports to his base in nearby Andover. “Wolff operator is signing on, Channel 7- KYD- 797,” he calls in. 

And so the fire watch begins. In New Jersey, a fire observer’s job isn’t just detecting fires, but also dispatching aircraft, ground units and personnel. Once they are in action, the fire observer orchestrates the entire drama. 

Wolff listens for the wind and observes the tops of the trees to see if they are bending. He watches to see how quickly the clouds are moving, another indicator of the wind. Weather can be brutal and fast to change along the ridge top. On this morning, visibility is limited and the breeze is light, but I can feel the tower sway.

As I write this, the article from the May 2016 New Jersey Monthly may be found here. It is a short read, and I learned something about the work of a fire observer. I don't know how long this article will be freely available online.

Here are a couple of short videos about the Catfish Fire Tower.


Direct link to video


Direct link to video

About NJ Fire Towers -- Mizpah Fire Tower

Ever wonder exactly what happens in a fire tower when the observer spots a fire or smoke? Well, watch this three minute from The Press of Atlantic City you will hear Mizpah Fire Observer Larry Birch III talk about his work as a Fire Observer and what happens after he spots a fire. It takes about three minutes to watch the video and is well worth it. The embed code that I was using may not be compatible with changes Blogger is making as they move blogs to https. So, I have removed the embed code, but you may go this direct link to video from the Press of Atlantic City to watch the video.

The Mizpah Fire Tower is located along Route 40 in Hamilton Township (Atlantic County) NJ.

Updated on May 2, 2016 at 3:25 PM EDT

A short visit to Catfish Fire Tower

I expect that many of you know that the Appalachian Trail passes through New Jersey. There is a nice day hike that one can make that takes you by the Catfish Fire Tower. The Catfish Fire Tower (on the National Historic Lookout Register) is located on the Appalachian Trail not far from Blairstown NJ. The NY/NJ Trail Conference maintains many of the trails in this area and has a webpage that describes a loop hike using the Rattlesnake Swamp Train and the Appalachian Trail, taking you by the Catfish Fire Tower, the webpage has some photos.

I have hiked up to the Catfish Fire Tower, many years ago was the last time I did so. The views are extraordinary. A very pretty spot. And I can understand why the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has a fire tower here. I have not climbed the tower, but I know that you get a good 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. Just what is needed for wildfire spotting. I have more recently flown over the Catfish Fire Tower on scenic flights that I have taken with pilot friends. It is a good visual reference point.

Here is a nice short video taken from the Catfish Fire by Ray Galli:


direct link to video on youtube

Rebuilding historic fire tower in Utah

Those men and women who staff fire towers play an important role in spotting wildfires. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has several fire towers around the state. My interest in fire towers started when I passed fire towers while hiking some trails in Northern New Jersey and in the Pine Barrens. When I go flying courtesy of one of my pilot friends, when I know that a fire tower is near our route, I'll look for them, they are good visual reference points

I have known that other States use fire towers, so when I ran across a nice video on the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 video of the week page (updated weekly) today on a fire tower in Utah that has been restored, I just had to share it with you.

direct link to video on youtube