Fire Towers
ME Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry - ME Forest Service
In a state with vast – and remote – forests, the need for an early-warning fire detection system in the woods came into focus in the first years of the 1900s after forest fires burned more than 200,000 acres in 1903. Within two years of those fires, a group of timberland owners in Maine began building elevated observation towers on their properties, and by 1909, the state took over those privately funded lookouts and incorporated them into the recently developed Maine Forest District.
Perched along mountainsides and ridges, Maine’s network of more than 100 fire towers was connected by telephone and staffed by lone observers who scanned the tree line for smoke and flames. But by the 1970s, the use of airplane surveillance meant states began shutting down their fire tower networks. Maine held out for longer than most, discontinuing its network following a budget crisis in 1991.
After the state ended its staffed fire tower system, some of the towers were dismantled or collapsed on their own and some have found a second life. Hikers and local history and conservation groups embraced the fire towers as a symbol of Maine’s connection to forests, and some, such as those on Mount Kineo and Deboullie Mountain and Acadia National Park’s Beech Mountain, have been restored and are open to the public.
Author: Stephanie Bouchard
