Fire lookout

Common card · No. 375826

A fire lookout (sometimes also called a fire watcher or lookout observer) is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire. Alpine lookouts generally live and work in the same space, while Boreal lookouts often have a separate tower structure to work from, while living in a cabin below. Once a possible fire is spotted, "Smoke Reports" or "Lookout Shots" are relayed to the local Emergency Communications Center (ECC), often by radio or phone. A fire lookout can use a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder to obtain the radial in degrees off the tower, and the estimated distance from the tower to the fire. Each tower covers an "Area of Responsibility," which is a circle with a radius of 40 km where they must detect and report smokes. Part of the lookout's duties include taking...

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