To Find a Blaze: Locating a Forest Fire

Tanning and Logging: The beginning of a Problem

In climbing much of the flanks of Catskill mountains below 3400 feet one mostly finds deciduous trees that lose their leaves every fall. Oak, maple,birch and beech are commonplace and yet few are particularly large. One gets the impression that either the environment was too harsh for growth or that they are not entirely at home here. In fact, it is the latter for almost all of the Catskills were the domain of great hemlock trees which now only grow here and there. Where did they all go?

A Grove of Hemlock trees on the approach to Kaaterskill High Point
In fact, Hemlock vanished from the landscape because of its bark. Hemlock bark is a very good source of tannic acid that was used to tan hides that were transported from around the world up the streams to the tanning mills. In the early to mid 1800s virtually all of the trees were felled and peeled for their bark leaving behind enormous quantities of debris or slash.

In dry late summer days tanning industry tanning debris became the perfect timber waiting for a spark. Sparks came, and enormous forest fires that could be seen for hundreds of miles became fairly common. Fighting forest fires became a priority and fire towers were installed on top of mountains where rangers maintained a constant vigil.

How Fire Towers Worked

Overlook fire tower

My understanding of fire towers began with a bit of luck. One summer evening I headed up on a training climb up Overlook to the fire tower. As luck would have it, volunteers were staffing the fire tower so the locked off observation deck was open!

In the center is the original circular chart and pointer that rangers used to determine the location of a fire. The method was both simple and ingenious. They would aim the long pointer toward the fire and read the heading from the outside of the circle, then estimate the approximate distance from the map.

Even better though, the other two fire towers on Hunter and Tremper Mountains were also on the map with a 360 degree circle around each one. So, getting their bearings via radio or by messenger a Ranger could find the location of the fire at the intersection of the three bearing lines or more likely, at the triangle created by the three.

Here is a typical fire tower dial. Note it's position in the exact center of the tower observation deck and the two smaller graduated circles corresponding to the exact locations of the other two fire towers.

fire tower dial

In this manner, rangers could rapidly deploy to the site of any Catskill blaze via the closest route and begin the exhausting and dangerous job of extinguishing it. Today, plane surveys and GPS technology are used to locate fires which still occur albeit more rarely. But the towers remain, mute evidence of human ingenuity in the face of adversity.

I will pause for now, let's continue our adventures in the mysterious Catskills in a few days.

If you liked this post please upvote. For more in depth reading please read:
Catskill Mountains: An Introduction
The Great Wall of Manitou

Also, please follow me for a future in depth account along with more journeys like this. I use overland navigation techniques with compass, map and altimeter in unmarked wilderness and emphasize practical techniques to journey and get home safely.

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Camera Notes: All photos taken by me with a Canon EOS 70D 18-55 mm lens.