‘Time capsules’: Why a Shuswap adventurist is driven to save old forest fire lookout towers

Perched atop peaks surrounded by panoramic vistas, the remaining forest fire lookout towers in BC continue to capture the intrigue of historians and backcountry adventurers, but the relics are dwindling.

Built in the 1920s and 1930s, the tall towers once played a crucial role in wildfire management, housing operators from all over the world who would man them for weeks and months at a time, scanning the surrounding area for signs of fire before satellites or other modern technology took over.

Sicamous resident and backcountry enthusiast Jason Lutterman spent more than ten years working to put out wildfires, and regularly visits fire towers in the region.

He said a growing number of backcountry enthusiasts are taking interest in preserving the structures.

They not only hold historical value, they are panoramic destinations for adventurers and hubs of safety when things go wrong in the backcountry.

“They have these books in them with signatures that go way back, and handwritings on the walls,” he said. “You’re looking at guys who signed the wall in 1940. They’re like time capsules.”

The Jesmond Lookout near Clinton was destroyed in the Big Bar complex wildfire in July, just after Lutterman had been there.

“It’s devasting to keep losing these towers,” Lutterman said. “Jesmond still had a tool in the middle of it that’s an iron sight set up on top of a map. You could move it around to get locations. The guest book had the whole history of the place but is now burned.

“In the USA they wrap their towers in fire resistant fabric during wildfires, it’s something I wish we’d do here.”

Lutterman’s fascination with fire towers began when he visited the Eagle Pass Fire Lookout near Revelstoke in 2017.

“I took a hike up there and fell in love with the tower,” he said. “It was an amazing setting. The scenery was beyond describable, looking over Revelstoke. I could see pretty much to Alberta.”

He just got back from a backcountry trip with friends visiting fire towers. Among the group were a couple of YouTubers filming the towers for their adventure channels.

“You can build an adventure bucket list and keep checking new ones out,” Lutterman said. “It’s almost becoming a subculture where there is a huge interest in these things and it’s bringing people together.”

Lutterman is a member of the Four-Wheel Drive Association of BC and said those travelling to lookout towers should be well equipped with four-wheel drive vehicles and great driving skills. When things go wrong in the backcountry, the towers provide safety.

“They are places where search and rescue can pick you up and where people can get to when something goes wrong,” he said.  “A lot of these places are outfitted with clamshells, backboards and first aid kits. They have stoves in them and blankets and fire wood.”

Lutterman, along with other members of the four-wheel drive group, maintain the Cornwall Fire Tower in Ashcroft every year, something that isn’t uncommon for volunteer outdoor groups to take on.

“We go up in spring just after winter and assess any damage,” he said. “In fall we do what is needed for it to survive the next winter, like build braces for the rear deck, paint it or replace broken windows.”

The government signs over liability of the towers to the four-wheel drive association and through agreements with different government bodies, members maintain them.

“A lot of snow mobile clubs have taken over the care of the lookouts,” Lutterman said. “Unless there is an active club taking care of them, they can fall to the wayside.”

Wes Kibble is a former regional district area director for Kamloops and part of the the four-wheel drive group who initiated the management of the Ashcroft tower years ago, the first motorized organization to get a maintenance contract with the government.

In a previous interview with iNFOnews.ca, Kibble shared his knowledge of the towers.

“The people in the towers would have a little sundial and a map of the area and they would be able to pinpoint where that fire is and they would use that to telegraph down to the forest district area and they would send guys on horseback in the early days, or by truck later on,” he said.

The lookouts stopped being used with the introduction of new technologies.

“The last ones were in the early 90s,” Kibble says. “From my understanding the Cornwall tower was the last one in the Interior, at least, to have a person on full time. They switched to using satellite imaging and high-tech ways of detecting fires.”

Kibble started the BC Forest Fire Lookouts Facebook group where thousands of people share lookout locations, photographs and stories.

“Once you get there and see them you realize how important they are,” Luttterman said. “I take my daughter to these places. There are guys in their 70s running their Jeeps out there and telling me their memories about them. It’s starting to become more common to lose them.”

Fewer than ten of the towers are still standing in the Thompson-Okanagan region and you can view a map of them here.

Lutterman has an outdoor adventure page Shuswap Overland Adventures and contributes outdoor adventure articles to local papers and outdoor magazines.