r/firelookouts • u/clandestine_atelier • 6d ago
r/firelookouts • u/pitamakan • Feb 09 '19
Want to get a fire lookout job? Here are the basics
Since the Firewatch game came out, I've been getting messages pretty much weekly from people interested in finding a lookout job ... and the recent flood of social media posts from lookout "influencers" has just made it worse. So here are a few basics:
First off, in the US we use the term "fire lookouts" for the lookout buildings, as well as the people who work in them. If you say "fire watch" instead, that marks you as somebody who is only about the game, and you'll get eyerolls from actual lookouts.
The Firewatch game is amazing, but it's an extremely inaccurate representation of the lives of real-life lookouts. It's a bad idea to play the game and immediately tell us that you're going become a lookout yourself -- you first need to do some serious research outside of social media. The same goes for watching the viral lookout Instagrammers and TikTokers; while those folks aren't being malicious, creator revenue and audience growth are often foremost. The endless sunset panoramas they show are only a part of the story.
Before deciding to apply, think seriously about yourself and your goals. Remember that lookout jobs are low-paid and seasonal, without opportunity for advancement, and know that most US lookouts are primitive by modern standards -- few have commercial electricity, and almost none have running water. Most importantly, applicants need to realize that becoming a fire lookout is not a way to escape. If you're going to be successful in this job, you need to be comfortable in your own skin beforehand.
There are two main kinds of fire lookout structures in the US: small one-room buildings 12 to 15 feet square that include both a work area and basic living facilities; and tall steel towers usually about 7 feet square where people look for fires but don't spend the night. This post is about finding jobs at the live-in lookouts in the United States; the non-live-in lookouts are only staffed intermittently, usually by people with other primary jobs.
In the US, the live-in towers are pretty much all in the West, mostly in California, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, and New Mexico. There are a few others in the remaining western states. Nearly all are operated by the U.S. Forest Service, with a handful operated by the Park Service and the BLM, and an even smaller number operated by other entities. (The Canadian province of Alberta is the only other place that still has a substantial number of live-in lookouts, and the experience there can be pretty different than what's described here.) Note that you must be an American citizen to work as a federal lookout in the U.S.
Most of these jobs are hard to get -- and it gets harder every year, as government budgets tighten and the number of staffed lookouts declines. There are fewer than 300 operating lookouts remaining in the West, and some of those are staffed by volunteers rather than employees. At most locations, there is very little employee turnover. If social media influencers suggest otherwise, they're not being honest to you.
All the federal lookout jobs are announced on the usajobs.gov website, so that's what you need to follow. The job application deadlines are several months before the start of the season -- so if you want a summer lookout job in 2026, you'll need to catch the job announcements listed in the fall of 2025.
Most successful applicants will have past experience as lookouts or in fire, and nearly all of the rest will have some sort of outdoor resource management experience. If you don't have that sort of experience, you might have been able to find a spot a few years ago, but that's unlikely today. Regardless, you need to really build a resume that emphasizes outdoor work and volunteer experience, as well as related education. Read the qualification requirements in the announcements carefully, and talk to other lookouts or hiring managers for resume tips. USAJobs resumes need to be much more detailed that the ones you'd submit elsewhere.
This is important: do your research! Identify specific forests and in-service lookouts that you'd be interested in, and then call the ranger district that covers that area. (Ask for the Fire Management office.) Ask about possible vacancies, ask good questions, sound interested and professional. Follow up with another call after the hiring list comes out. Stop by the office if you're local. If you send off a resume but don't also do the personal networking, your chances of getting a fire job are much lower.
If you don't have the experience but really want to do this, one thing to do is volunteer as a lookout for part of a season or two. California has a number of lookouts staffed by volunteers, and there are a few in the other states I've listed, too. Unfortunately, there's no central location where you can find out about these opportunities, and it's hard to do a volunteer hitch if you're not a local resident. Some places have long waiting lists for volunteer spots, and there's no guarantee that a volunteer spot will put you in line for a paid job. Most volunteer spots are short-term, no more than a couple weeks or so.
If you do get a job, take it seriously. The fire/lookout community is small, and if you create drama or just act like you're on summer vacation, word will get around. And the job is an important one, with a fair amount of responsibility. It takes a while to become a good lookout, and most hiring managers will prefer candidates who are likely to stick around, rather than folks who just want to go slumming in the mountains for a summer.
TL/DR: Lookout jobs can be hard to get ... you need perseverance and experience and luck. For the right person, though, it can be totally worth it.
(revised August 2025)
r/firelookouts • u/seloki • Jul 09 '24
Posts asking how to become a firelookout will be deleted
This sub has been flooded with posts from people asking how to get a job as a firelookout, despite there being a pinned post explaining exactly that. The comments on those posts are often unhelpful and full of inaccurate information. Because of this no posts asking how to get a firelookout job will be allowed and anyone looking to get a job as a firelookout will be directed to the pinned post. If you have further questions about the process for applying to a lookout job or the day to day life of a fire lookout, please use the search bar, as your question has probably been asked and answered already.
Please do not use this sub as a substitute for Google. Simple Google searches with Reddit at the end will get you more information than posting your question on the subreddit.
If reading the pinned post, searching the sub, and Googling don’t answer your questions, you can DM me and I’ll be happy to answer your questions or direct you to the resources that will.
This sub is for sharing pictures, stories, and information about firelookouts, and with only a very small fraction of the users here being active firelookouts, I feel the need to restrict the content somewhat. If this change negatively affects the users and content of the sub, or you have a legitimate concern that this change will do so, I will reverse this decision. Honestly, I just want to see more lookouts and not wade through dozens of questions that have already been answered.
Thanks
r/firelookouts • u/grindle-guts • 7d ago
Lookout Pics A fire lookout honeymoon
My folks, freshly married, spent the summer of 1965 staffing the tower at Fryingpan Lake, Cochrane District, Ontario. https://maps.app.goo.gl/zftiDTQfH5xgNnNN9?g_st=ic
From satellite it appears that the cabin and dock still stand, even if I can’t find the tower.
They were city kids who had developed a love for wild places. They later moved to the bush outside Thunder Bay, and are hanging on in a remote property well into their eighties.
I’d love to visit, but short of chartering a Beaver I don’t think it’s possible to get in or out. Fryingpan appears to be an isolated kettle lake, surrounded by muskeg.
r/firelookouts • u/International_Brief5 • 7d ago
Lookout Pics Red Top lookout, Washington state
r/firelookouts • u/Active_Corner6867 • 7d ago
Really proud of this little instagram video.
instagram.comI know it’s click bait-ey trying to gain a small following.
My son and I have been to 71 WA fire lookouts over the last 5 years, with the goal of reaching all 91 in 10 years.
r/firelookouts • u/lepcat • 13d ago
Barillas Lookout
The first Barillas Lookout on the Santa Fe National Forest was a 7’x7’ metal cab and tower build in the 1930’s. The current 54’ Aermotor tower with a CL-100 style 14’x14’ live-in cab with catwalk was constructed in 1959.
r/firelookouts • u/Limp_Illustrator_145 • 16d ago
abandoned lookout
For being abandoned in the 70s its in really good shape. It's really isolated so not many people come around. Located in southern California.
r/firelookouts • u/walle_bob1210 • 17d ago
Aermotor LS-40 Plans
Hi all! Does anyone have the engineering drawings for a LS-40 tower? I’m trying to 3d model the blue mountain fire watch tower in the Adirondacks to 3d print. It was built in 1917, so anything close to that year would be fantastic. Thanks!!
r/firelookouts • u/StrawberryFit3968 • 18d ago
Lookout Questions Camp? Buy? Rent? Vist?
Is there a way to but a fire tower in NC? If not is there a better way to rent them than Recreation.gov because every tower in the U.S is booked through at least July 2028. Also in NC can you visit fire lookouts freely or do you have to contact someone or just can't visit. I did read it was illegal to sleep in but is that enforced and if it isn't do they care? I know these are pretty stupid questions but I'm desperate to lay my eyes on one of these things.
r/firelookouts • u/Huge_Hawk8710 • 19d ago
Gut wrenching incidents? (feel free to contribute)
I only heard about the first two incidents second hand, but I knew and listened daily to the fellow in the third.
1) Fellow wants to get some sun tanning in, so he goes on top of the octagonal fiberglass cupola for some rays. And there's not much room up there, so he replaces the octagonal access hatch so he can sit on it...and then the swinging hatch latches do what swinging latches tend to do and he's stuck up there. He gets burned pretty badly, but at least his absence is noted at the next thrice-daily check-in and/or weather report, so a helicopter is sent out.
2) A bear smells something good, so it breaks the kitchen window just above the sink to try and gain access. The tower guy has a gun and shoots it dead. But there's either a fire-flap or thick fog, so a dead bear with flies buzzing around it is taking up space in his kitchen sink for an inconveniently lengthy time.
3) You may remember the yellow bars that we used to drag behind push mowers to kill dandy lions. They were about the consistency of a bar of soap. There's one in the generator shed, and buddy's dog gets a hold of it and does more than just nibble. By the time buddy finds his dog, it's too late. Buddy didn't really elaborate over the radio much more than that, but it couldn't have been a good way to go.
r/firelookouts • u/Ill_Dust2162 • 22d ago
Lookout Questions Similar on site jobs?
I recently graduated highschool and want a job like a fire lookout, however I’ve been ridden with many physical ailments like scoliosis and collapsed ankles so I can’t physically meet the requirements for the job.
Are there any jobs similar to a fire lookout that are on site, isolated and are more general maintenance and daily responsibilities. I hate the idea of working a 9 to 5 but do to my issues I doubt I could get a fire lookout job but want something with the same style and workflow.
Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thanks
r/firelookouts • u/gentleblanton • Jun 20 '26
‘It was annihilated.’ Inside the vandalism of the High Rock Lookout
r/firelookouts • u/Huge_Hawk8710 • Jun 12 '26
A short account of 11 summers on a lookout tower
The first couple of pages are about my prior two summers fighting fires (in the late 1980's), so just skip ahead if you want. https://www.evanbedford.com/fighting_fires_spotting_smokes.pdf
(If you're wondering where the rest of the book is, it's in the main website under the yellow book thumbnail).
r/firelookouts • u/kNEoH8gWJS • Jun 10 '26
Lookout Questions Aspiring Fire Lookout: What does your supply loadout look like?
I guess I've fallen down this rabbit hole a bit. I did a cursory search, so this hopefully isn't repetitive.
I suppose there isn't anything typical since there's wide variation between lookouts. So, what does your supply loadout look like? Do you go down to do it yourself, or does someone bring it to you? Helicopter, mule train, or, you know, bed of a truck?
- How many weeks at a time?
- How much water?
- Do you have refrigeration, or is it all essentially dry goods?
r/firelookouts • u/kNEoH8gWJS • Jun 09 '26
Lookout Questions Aspiring Fire Lookout: Where Can I Learn Advanced Topographic Map Reading?
I'm interested in learning how to read topographic maps well enough to work as a fire lookout. What types of training are available, where can I get that training, and are there any books or other resources you'd recommend?
r/firelookouts • u/Mrrainbow4 • Jun 04 '26
Lookout Questions Mouse proofing
Visiting my girl who got a job as a fire lookout and shes not happy with the amount of t of mouse dropping and the smell of them. Shes deep cleaned everything she can reach but they seem to just come back at night and crawl over everything and leave more droppings. How can she keep them out without using “inhumane” methods?
r/firelookouts • u/SilverbackMD • May 24 '26
Lookout Pics Black Mountain Fire Lookout
Quick jaunt up to Black Mountain, just outside of Idyllwild, CA. First time I’ve visited, didn’t take any shots of the tower directly but despite the haze, the view was great and the sunset from down the road was even better.
Edit, the tower IS in the first pic, second pic is from the catwalk.
r/firelookouts • u/sneebiscus • May 22 '26
Lookout Pics First week of work!
Made it up for my first season as a lookout! Thanks to everyone in this sub for all the advice and help!!! Gonna be a busy year here in Oregon!!
r/firelookouts • u/annesgilbert • May 21 '26
Lookout News Watching for wildfires: The lonely job of B.C.’s last fire lookouts | CBC Short Docs
r/firelookouts • u/ryandoesdabs • May 18 '26
Humboldt Mountain, AZ - Visited for sunset and spotted a new fire
Yesterday was an interesting experience. I haven’t visited a fire lookout since I was a kid. I got a random urge and decided to go yesterday for sunset. Shortly after arriving, I noticed a small puff of smoke in the distance. I thought “surely that’s not a new fire”. I pondered it for a minute, and decided to make the call. It was a brand new fire. Hot shots arrived about 45 minutes later, and the fire is contained to 100 acres today.
This was the “Bronco Fire” in Tonto National Forest.
