This is how I started my job 4 days a week all summer long. I
worked for the Forest Service as a fire lookout at Lava Butte from May to
September. Having little experience with this line of work I was nervous but
decided it would be a good challenge. Those five months I called in roughly 20
fires, monitored prescribed burns and gave the weather report daily. Lightning
storms provided the most excitement! I worked closely with Bend, LaPine, and
Sunriver Fire Departments helping to locate small IOB’s (Illegal Open Burns).
This job
taught me first-hand how much weather, fuel, and topography affected the fire
behavior triangle. The lookout provided a front row seat to observe the
behavior of the various wildfires. I watched two fires on the lava flow (the
crews were not thrilled to have to walk a mile on the lava), a car fire escaped
to nearby trees, field burns, prescribed burns, escaped campfires, and many
fires started by lightning. All had unique features depending on fuel, weather,
and topography.
I have
lived in Bend, Oregon my whole life and have witnessed many fires through the
years, but the lookout job helped me understand more about fire behavior and
behind the scenes work of fighting wildfire.
P.S. I
got a personal visit from Smokey Bear himself!
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI drive by Lava Butte all the time for work/personal outings but have never been to the top, I typically drive out to Benham Falls for hiking, etc. I always forget we have a lookout up on the butte as the majority of fire lookouts I have visited are highly remote. The buttes we have in central Oregon are such great view points, I can only imagine what a vista you have from up there and how spectacular the lightning is during the summer months. Seeing central Oregon and the Cascades from up high for an extended period of time, you must have gained such an appreciation for the high variability in topography and the change in vegetation regimes.