The Cornwall fire lookout will get some maintenance thanks to the Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK - B.C. Forest Fire Lookouts
July 25, 2019 - 6:00 AM
KAMLOOPS - Dotting many local mountain ranges are lonely relics of B.C.’s desperate attempts to fight forest fires over the years, but before they degrade beyond repair, a Kamloops man appears to be recruiting a small army to restore forest fire lookouts.
Most of the lookouts are essentially small cabins strageically placed on high peaks where men spent weeks or months at a time trying to spot forest fires and protect their communities, long before satellites or other modern technology. Most of these lookouts were built in the thirties and forties, whatever materials they could pack up a mountain on horses.
Wes Kibble doesn’t want to see them fade into history and now he knows he’s not alone. The Kamloops man started the B.C. Forest Fire Lookouts Facebook group where members share photos of wildfire lookouts and towers they’ve found, most of which are abandoned and suffering from the passing of time.
They share his passion for history and the outdoors.
“It’s a great group. It’s got a lot of history and a lot of people who worked in these forest fire lookouts,” Kibble says. “A lot of these lookouts are kept in pristine shape, they’re not vandalized, they’re in harder areas to get to, so a lot of people see the respect in them more. If you go out to a lookout, leave it the way you found it.”
Kibble is also the area director for Kamloops with the Four Wheel Drive Association of B.C., which got a permit to repair the Cornwall lookout near Ashcroft. It was due to be torn down before they got involved. Restoring the lookouts is not just difficult due to their location but also the red tape.
“That particular lookout is in a provincial park, so everything has to go through B.C. Parks,” Kibble says. “Luckily the staff that we dealt with has been wonderful, and we were the first motorized organization to get a maintenance contract.”
After receiving the go-ahead from officials, Kibble began to look into repairing other locations as well.
“I was looking around for other forest fire lookouts to put on my list for maintenance to check out, and then we decided there wasn't much information out there," Kibble says. "I thought, ‘Well, I’m sure I’m not the only one looking for information on lookouts.’”
Kibble started the group, and people began sharing locations of the lookouts, repair projects, and stories of their time working in them.
“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,” Kibble says.
Three unidentified men stand in front of the Baldy Mountain Lookout in an undated photo. This lookout is located northast of Kamloops near Sorrento.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK -B.C. Forest Fire Lookouts
Kibble says that the people staying in these lookouts would often spend a whole fire season up there by themselves.
“People would come up in early June and head out at the end of September. Somebody would come up once a week to let them off for a couple of days or bring them supplies like food and toiletries,” Kibble says. “Some of the stories they’ve got are just incredible. Especially when lightning storms are going on and you can just see for miles and miles.”
Kibble says 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’s passion for history is shared by nearly 2,000 members in the group. A big focus of the group is to share the locations of former forest fire lookouts so that the public is able to visit them.
“There’s a combination of going out exploring and finding out the history of different lookouts,” Kibble says. “A lot of us will incorporate a lookout into a day trip or weekend trip.”
Kibble says the Thompson-Okanagan region is peppered with these lookouts and encourages people to go out and find these locations. He estimates that in the Thompson-Nicola region alone, there are at least six lookouts.
“Greenstone Mountain is just outside of Kamloops,” Kibble says. “That’s accessible by a car, then half of a kilometre hike out. It’s a great spot to go up to for an evening or watch the sunset or go out for a date.”
The Greenstone Mountain lookout is one of the closest to Kamloops, according to Wes Kibble.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK - B.C. Forest Fire Lookouts
Although they are a great place to visit, Kibble reminds people of the importance of approval before beginning repairs, noting the unfortunate consequence faced when someone would fail to do so.
In 2016, Guy Maris and a friend decided to repair the Eagle Pass Ridge lookout in Sicamous. The duo received thousands of signatures on an online petition and the blessing of several politicians, but despite being warned, they didn’t get the appropriate approval. Maris was hit with a $20,000 fine for treating crown land as his own, soliciting funds for an illegal purpose, and continuing the project after being made aware they needed approval first. His friend had passed away, and therefore not fined.
Eagle Pass fire lookout was restored by Guy Maris and friends. Maris received a $20,000 fine for doing so without getting the appropriate approval beforehand.
Image Credit: Rene St. Onge
“I know the guys really wanted to help out on that one lookout and I think they did a wonderful job, but if anything ever did happen there are liability issues at stake…. there’s much more than just preserving it, there's a lot more at stake than that," Kibble says. “Once you find the one you want to repair it’s best to get in touch with a local organization...they know the right people to talk to and a lot of them already have relationships with these government bodies.”
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