Hickory Ridge Lookout Tower
Hoosier National Forest
Elkinsville, Indiana
Indiana Lookout
Tower System
Fire was a common problem in the rural countryside in
southern Indiana. During the 1930's
the state began building fire towers with the goal of having no visibility gap
in the system. The first fire towers were simply platforms in tall trees with a
ladder steps nailed into the tree leading up to them. Over time, they refined
the design to reflect that of the fire towers at McCormick's Creek
State Park and Hickory
Ridge Lookout Tower
in the Hoosier National
Forest. The state had constructed thirty-three
lookout towers by 1952. The equipment and facilities surrounding the fire tower
included communication equipment, a psychrometer, an alidade, a cabin or guard
station, a latrine, and a garage.
Communication Equipment
The communication equipment could include a telephone, radio
or both. Since most of these lookout towers were located in remote areas they
often served as the communications link between the rural population and the
outside world. Many times the telephones or radios were the first ones
installed in the area. Telephones required the installation of miles of cable
that then had to be maintained between the various towers.
Psychrometer
The tower man used an instrument called a psychrometer to
measure the relative humidity. This was important to know as the lower the
relative humidity, the greater the fire danger. The psychrometer uses two
thermometers, a dry one and a wet one, to determine humidity. The tower man
measured the temperature difference between the wet thermometer and the dry
thermometer and calculated the humidity using a special chart.
Alidade
The aliade is a circular device invented for use in
surveying and map making. It consisted of a circular disc that had compass
points marked around outside edge. Two vanes with sighting slits on opposite
sides of the wheel attached to a rotating wheel, also on the outer edge of the
disc. This is called a swivel range finder. A thin steel rod, called a sighting
wire, connected the vanes. A printed topographic map was glued to the disc. The
aliade was located in the center of the cabin. When the tower man sighted
smoke, he could line up sighting wire with the smoke. The tower man then fixed
the precise location of the tower by using a mathematical calculation measuring
the angle of intersection with another nearby tower. The tower man could then
dispatch a fire crew to the fire's location.
Cabin or Guard Station
Usually located at the base of the tower, the cabin housed
the tower man during times of high fire danger. Usually it was a two room cabin.
The Tower man
The tower man spent many hours at the top of the tower
during periods when fire danger was high. At other times the tower man helped
survey land lines, mark timber, route signs and worked on forest maintenance
projects. When fire danger was high, the Forest Service hired local farmers to
help staff the tower. During these times they would sometimes station a small
fire crew near the tower that could be dispatched out as soon as a fire was
sighted. During dry weather there would sometimes be four or five fires a day
for these crews to extinguish. Usually staffed by men, women also made up a
portion of the tower man ranks, especially during World War II. The tower man
had to pass a vision test and be physically fit enough to climb the tower
several times a day. In addition to watching for smoke plumes, the tower man
coordinated fire crews while they were out fighting a fire, kept records of the
fires, kept weather records, cleaned the privy and maintained the grounds
around the tower.
Obsolete
The advent of using airplanes and other modern methods of
detecting fires has made the fire tower obsolete. Only nine fire towers remain
in Indiana.
Follow this link to see the list.
http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/in/
http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/in/
