As summer comes to a close, we look back at the peak fire season through the eyes of someone dedicated to protecting Arizona's forests: fire spotter Mac Tippins.
Nice report. I did lookout on the Payette National Forest, Frank Church Wilderness at Arctic Point, in the early 90's. No electric, no wifi, no propane....but was still a great experience. Best job I ever had. Hope you continue doing it for many years.
Amazing scenery! ~ Important job. Thank you for sharing this with us. I've saved this video to my Arizona playlist, to the Catalina Mountains-Mt. Lemmon section, to share it with others.
that's a very old lookout.. that design is called an L4 and that version with the shutter prop-up poles was built in the 1930's. looks like the windows were replaced with large solid glass panes, the original ones would have had 9 separate panes of glass in wood frames which would have made sighting with the firefinder a real mess having to deal with the window frames and the prop poles... the firefinder was mounted on a slide so you could move it around a bit to help get around objects but it only slid in one direction.. but that lookout looks like it is on a hillside so it only has to see out of 3 sides instead of all 4.
Bald eagles are very rare in this area, it lacks many of the features that attract them(fish, water.) I'm not sure what you saw, and it's not impossible, but it almost certainly wasn't a bald eagle.
I remember back in the late 70’s / early 80’s there was a bald eagle which made a temporary home on one of downtown Tucson’s tallest buildings. It couldn’t have been in the summer - they wouldn’t be down there in the heat at that time of year………..I guess it was a snowbird. 😂
He complains about being iaolated with no tv but having internet?????? Internet is a million times better than tv. It allows you to watch whatever and communicate with people. Shoot im in a lookout right now typing this.
I did not complain, I made a statement of fact. Lemmon Rock is weird. It is a lookout in the designated wilderness (Wilderness of Rocks), that is on grid power with running water. I have worked less well equipped lookouts, for sure. But I also lived for 13 years, not so long ago, without TV. That was my point, and I agree with you 1000% that internet is better than TV. In fact, I will not work in a lookout without some basic internet connectivity.
4touchdowns1game Discernment knows it wasn't a complaint. There is a big difference between noting that a place is physically isolated, and complaining about something. Logic discerns that the brief mentions of TV, internet and radio, were separate mentions, not related to the location being physically isolated. (Different generations don't necessarily define " isolation" the same way. You might feel not very isolated so long as you have communication via internet, while another generation sees isolation as physical.)
@@FireLookoutOregon1 Thank you for serving in the capacity you shared in this video; it's a very important job. I saved this video to my large and organized Arizona playlist, to the Tucson/Catalina Mountains/Mt. Lemmon section, to share it with others. Please know that your service is appreciated.
07192016 thnx mac; from the philippines subic bay, its the start of rain season here a couple months early this year actually. those mountain lightening strikes - hairy. they get sideways here a lot, not much visually typically due to rain cover unless real close in what im looking to share, maybe you know - the very long rumbling of thunder passing thru. make ya feel better amigo always reminds of the near solid low atmospheric deceleration sound waves of incoming new generation mach single seaters after a recon mission. salude.
@@FireLookoutOregon1 What part of SC are you from? I've known a couple of guys in USFS near Greenwood, SC. I think most are passed on now, tho. Names were Sammy Dunn, Bruce Benjamin, Bob Outz... that's all I can remember offhand. I dont know how well any of USFS across the State know each other, but when I read your age, that you were USFS, and from SC - I wondered if you might've known them.
marcus hynek fo to usa jobs website and apply. Im actually in a tower right now. Most lookout positions will be labeled as forestry technician. Many of the are gs4 so it helps if you have no experience to have at least a two year degree or some type of related training.
Well, FWIW I am 70 years old. There are some H/W teams. Some good friends in Oregon (who are GREAT lookouts) come to mind. But if you want nightlife, other than incredible stars, big cats screaming, and emergency poop runs (as the cougars scream) to outhouses 50 yards away (after doing 60 steps - down) , you will not like the job.
There are some lookout towers with actual homes on site. The two I am familiar with, the couples weren't both Foresters. One place the guy worked for USFS, in the other place the wife did. But in both places the whole family lived there in the house at the tower. I dont know how common that is though; and I'm sure it would be a tough gig to land anyway.
