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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1962)
4 B SUNDAY. MAY 27. 1962 MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON The Lookout By H. M. von STEIN The lady in spike S-.eels and pink slacks had some diffi culty in negotiating the last 50 feet of rocky trail to the cat walk of the glass walled house where the legend "Elev. 7000" was etched on a brass pin set in the stone. Her escort, a broad ghoul red young man with an es presso hairdo, wearing riding boots, ivas not much assist ance. Their poodle made it with less stress. "Oh!" puffed the lady, sweeping the hundred mile panorama of jumbled peaks. "I bet you like it here!" she accused. '. . . All alone." Not Exactly Alone The man with the binocu lars hanging around his neck said he was not exactly alone. The wife was in town, 40 miles away, buying groceries. "Oh, I thought the govern ment furnished your supplies. "We thought we might take one of these jobs," the lady confided. "My husband wants to get somelhing-you know not so hard. Hard work makes him irritable." "How many hours a day you got to put in on one o' lhe.se jobs?" the broad shoul dered one inquired. The lookout indicated a chart pinned to the wall upon which was printed: Time of first observation 5.40 a.m. Fifteen-minute intervals were clocked off, with half hour periods emphasized, down lo 7 p.m. or until dark! Quarter Hour Intervals The lookout explained it meant that the entire visible area was to be scrutinized at quarter hour intervals, seg ment by segment, with binoc ulars. The young man became thoughtful when he learned looking for fires is the pri mary function of a lookout, but his observation must also include anything out of the or dinary. The several box like short wave radio phones, the look out explained, were to com municate the results of these observations to headquarters. Scarcely anyone not pres ently connected with forest fire detection and suppres sion, is aware of the changes which have taken place af fecting this work. Not of Ignorance Stories about lookouts and forest fires are not wrilten out of ignorance; nor are they deliberately misleading, but practices differ widely in var ious localities and under dif ferent agencies. Also, techniques are chang ing with the expansion of for- WWv pari" Is No . V V . v l,X W mm- m,,A,,mv-mm zmymmm-mmm . Longer Person on Paid Vacation I the air again, and he may not ; Besides these duties, the I be gone for more than a few j lookout, if he dues not have moments at any time without a wife, does his own cooking, j requesting permission from ' a matter of much more critical the dispatcher. j importance than generally Become Critical i conceded. Balanced meals arc j Following lightning "busts," : important under the peculiar ! communications become criti-! 'y exacting circumstances of a cal alone with s h o o t i n s h'8h mountain lookout LOOKOUT HOUSE This is the present finder is In the cupola, and the vertical rods Dutchman Peak lookout house. The fine are radio-lclephone antennas. est use and the increased im portance of forest resources, not all of which are measured in cash. Another factor, especially in western Oregon, is the in creased presence of civilian aircraft. Prospectors, lumber men, geological surveyors, en gineers and just plain sight seers thread the Canyons, while military aircraft and regular air lines pass con stantly at higher levels. Rocornoisancc flights from any of the three national for esis bordering the Ro.ue, or the Orcjon slate department of forestry, are overhead al most hu;,riy during periods of high fire hazard. Along with the fantastic in crease in uccess roads into regions which, a few years ago, were accessable only by trail, the population of any area of a national forest on any summer day is likely to be altogether unassessable. Fire potential is with every one, and possible need for help in case of accident. The result ing pressure on the lookout is many times what it was in the "good old days" when all a man needed was a supply of magazines and canned goods. Fire control anywhere is dangerous work. When a for est fire breaks out, the chances that someone, some where along the line will be come excited, increasing the potential for injury is almost a certainty. An explosive, running fire, for this reason, if for no other, is a forest officer's nightmare. This is why the fire control of ficer must be as certain as he can that his personnel is alert and capable. Regards An Applicant It explains the reason for the seemingly old-womanish care with which a forest offi cer regards an applicant for a fire control position. It isn't just another job. Persons not constituted In absorb the days, wooUs, and sometimes months of monotonous routine and stand-by, and yet able to react quickly, exercising sound judgment, with safety, are not fire control personnel. Periods of intensive action may be long, and anyone in fire control will, sooner or later, be called upon to do with IN9BCTICI0I KM "V f v B'ti't .V ffectlvely controls all these crop-destroying Insects! Ciaztnon offers fruit grower, economy and convenience In ony ipray program It it one of the safer phoiphnt Insecticides can be applied close to harvest. Protect your peon the modern, proved way with Diazinon. more than his prescribed job calls for. Conditions are being im proved for lookouts and smoke chasers as rapidly as budgets will allow. The fact becomes ever more persistent that any loss of timber, for age, wild life habitat or other forest resource is becoming intolerable in view of the in crease of public need. Lighining Only Source Twenty years ago, when this lookout first leveled an Osborne Fire tinder, almost the only source of forest fire in the back country whs light ning. Contrary to one idea which seems to be quite general, for est fires, when first, ignited are not. always visible to more than nne lookout. This denies the advantage of the cross shot, and makes it imperative that each lookout become in timately familiar with the ge ography under his obscrva- lion as it is related to the map on his fire finder. A separate j knowledge of either is not suf 1 ficient, because a fire finder I is not a fire Iocater, It only gives a compass direction and vertical angle. I And if there is such a thing I as "most important" in the j entire area of fire control, it is ; not the ability to organize I armies to fight big fires, but ! this first instant of detection and rapid transmission of all the correct information to the dispatcher. No Longer Uncomplicated Because of all these factors. the work of the lookout is no j longer the uncomplicated, leis- j n rely life it is sometimes pie-: uirrd. j The rouline of 12 hours oh- i MTvation, following the time chart the best he can. includes I frequent message relays by i radio, and on some stations,! three daily weather observa- j turns. Key stations rebroadcast I fire weather reports twice j daily and, during high hazard I periods, special bulletins are ! put on the air. j Often an exchange of infor mation from the head office to some mobile radio unit deep in a canyon requires the as sistance of the lookout. Smoke jumpers in remote areas, un able to talk out on their HT sets, usually can contact some 1 nearby lookout. Because be must be there when needed, the lookout may ml leave his station al any time wit'uMit sin'ur.i; out, mrii catirn how soon he will tie on Stevenson Donates To Elephant Fund Portland I IT Zoo director J,Kk Marks received a S3 con tnbution to the fund to buy elephants Relle and Packv Knd.u A letter an onii.nv inc it .said "I understand that you have received all the technical as sistance you required, hut may wish some special (und aid. "The already over taxed fi nances of the I'nited Nations do not have provision for a people! o-pai'hy derm program, and I am therefore sending you a small personal i-ontnbu-tlon toward your patern.ills'tie scheme of elephant care. '1 have .spent a i;oo,l deal of m adult life livint to help Republican over then v intent obuvtion 1 milit I smoke. The lookout may be busy all through the night, i "talking a crew" in to a blaze ! which is visible to him. but which the crew in the canyon cannot see. Next morning, at daybreak, the lookout is transmitting in structions from headquarters to the crew: reporting their situation and relaying orders for aerial drops of food or equipment or additional help. Aerial supply, on the scale to which it is now employed is comparatively new and in creasing in scope and efficien cy. Crews which have been out all night may have hot meals and, if needed, "wet water" to help put out the fire. In some circumstances chipped ice is dropped where fire is creeping deep among rocks, j Borate planes will be used ; again this season more ex tensively than ever. The Rogue River National forest is currently expanding and improving its facilities at the Medford airport. Add His Judgment Here again the lookout may be called upon lo add his judg ment to that of the dispatcher and other observers as to the need or value of a borate drop before a crew can arrive at the fire. His advice to the dis It is specifically required that the man keep himself and his station neat and clean at all times. He also does all the repair work, painting and minor construction on his sta-tion-and hauls the water he uses, usually from a distance and, in the case of some look outs, a distance of as much as two miles. Proven Dependability Men of proven dependabil ity and (the ranger adds) ca pacities, may, if they wish it, be employed for 10 months of the year on the Rogue River National forest. Season for manning stations usually be gins about June 15 and ends sometime about October 15. Beginning sometime in March he would be employed in a variety of jobs including burn ing slash; piling slash: plant ing trees: seeding; erosion work; pruning; construction and maintainance of camp grounds (public); telephone line maintainance and clear ing forest trails. All of this work is associ ated with the purposeful use of a shovel or axe. People allergic to such condiments should avoid forest work. During fire season the look out or smoke chaser cannot be have one day each week off. It should be noted that prac tices of the Oregon state for estry department and that of forests in other regions differ. National and state forestry de partments are distinct and separate in all respects. They ; do cooperate fully in fire sup pression in areas adjacent to . depending on the location of me station, me worK joaa ana regulations imposed by the Civil Service Commission and other agencies involved. TJie work is fascinating, often rewarding, and far from being the "paid vacation vis- their common boundaries The state employs many women lookouts, while the same is not true of the local national forest districts. The beginning wage of a lookout in the Rogue River patcher on the progress of the certain of time off. The fire fire is part of his job and his suggestions are important and often his advice is taken, be cause he is looking at the fire. This also applies to the ap proach and course of storms in his area. Crews may be called from the field on the strength of his report. control officer will, if it feasablc, arrange to get the lookout off for a day once each two or three weeks un til the critical period, during which no one is certain of time off. Unlike the lookout, the smoke chaser is scheduled to National forest varies greatly. I ualized by the uninforwied. OPEN! Our Stocks Are Not Complete But We Have Thousands of Dollars Worth Of Fine New Furniture On Our Floor. COME IN AND SEE US Grand Opening Soon Cupps Furniture Home and Office Highway 99 Central Point, Oregon YOUR Bi FIESTA ICE CREAM IS so GOOD! 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