Forest spires
By Mark Leberfinger, mleberfinger@altoonamirror.comArticle Photos
Fact Box
FIRE FACTS
-- There were 1,923 forest fires from 2004-06 in Pennsylvania, consuming 14,966.9 acres.
-- The major cause of forest fires in Pennsylvania is debris burning.
-- Ninety-eight percent of all Pennsylvania wildfires are caused by people.
Source: Bureau of Forestry, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
PENFIELD - Wayne Wynick pulls out his decidedly nonhigh-tech equipment - a piece of string and a topographical map - to mark out a compass reading.
Wynick, assistant district forester, stretches the string from one point, then several others.
He demonstrates how coordinates reported from the four fire towers in his district are checked to pinpoint the spot where a wildfire may be burning in the Moshannon State Forest.
The towers stretch high above the forest, simplistic yet unusually important in an era of 911, cell phones, satellites, improved highways and increased civilization. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the only mid-Atlantic states to use lookout towers as part of their fire watch programs.
''If you look closely at the map, what you see is a big block of state forest or game lands,'' Wynick said. ''People don't live there. We're not getting that early detection [of fires from onlookers]. With a cell phone, I can report that I see a brush fire - but here, it's a great black hole for cell phones.
''Our best early warning system in these big blocks of public land is the towers. These towers are critical for us.''
One observer sits in each tower for an eight-hour shift during wildfire seasons but may go longer if necessary. Pennsylvania observers help guard 2.1 million acres of state forest land.
Wildfire seasons are March through May and October and November, when a lot of leaves are on the ground - in spring, as the prior fall's leaves are dried out and crunchy underfoot, and in fall, as the forest floor is blanketed with leaves dropping from thousands of oaks, maples and walnuts, among other species.
Up to half of the wildfires in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are reported from fire towers, said Wynick and Assistant State Fire Warden Steve Murer of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
An observer spotting activity when it begins helps keep the fire from getting a head start, Murer said.
The tools of an observer also are low-tech - binoculars, a fire finder, a map, a radio, a telephone and a scanner.
Once the observer spots smoke, he or she will wait - it could be a farmer spreading lime on a field, Wynick said.
If it appears the smoke is growing in size, the observer will call or radio the report to the command post at the Moshannon forest office, where the state's fire response is coordinated.
State crews will be dispatched to put out the fire, along with local fire departments. Air tankers also may be used to dump water on the fire.
Pennsylvania has a long history of lookout towers, dating to 1884, when the first one - a building - was erected in Luzerne County.
As many as 444 known fire lookouts were in the state, some of them being in trees that, at times, were staffed by two people, but usually by a lone observer.
''They [fire watchers] would nail boards to a tree, climb up, hang on for dear life and watch for smoke. If they saw smoke, they would call down to the person below, who then would go and make the report,'' Wynick said.
Today's towers are metal with a small building on top.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources operates 46 towers in 26 counties, with the U.S. Forest Service operating one in Warren County.
When fire watchers are in the off-season, most have other duties within their respective state agencies. A New Jersey state government hiring freeze is causing some adjustments with that state's program.
''We have 15 fire observers and six vacancies. At times, we have to shift existing personnel,'' Murer said.
At least one tower in each of New Jersey's forest fire divisions is operated during wildfire seasons and other times when the woods are dry enough to burn, Murer said.
''When there are times of greater fire danger, we try to recruit part time, by-the-day help. It's just a stopgap for us,'' he said.
The Moshannon forest has 27 full-time employees. The number climbs to about 50 when seasonal workers are included, Wynick said.
Any DCNR employee can be used for wildfire duties - it's part of their job descriptions.
About 10 minutes from Wynick's office is the 90-foot-tall Rockton tower, built in 1927. It is one of the four Moshannon towers that cover Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties.
''We can see from airplanes and satellites, but the towers still end up our preferred choice,'' Wynick said.
On a clear day, a watcher can scan 30 to 35 miles with binoculars. It couldn't be seen two weeks ago, but on an exceptionally clear day, the reflection from a metal barn roof can be spotted near Carrolltown, Cambria County, from the Rockton tower, Wynick said.
Melvin McLaughlin of Penfield is a veteran smoke watcher. The 83-year-old has been up and down the metal Rockton tower for the last 15 years.
''I'm an old country boy. I've lived in Clearfield County all my life. I know every creek, stream and hill. I can sit up there and tell you where the fire is,'' McLaughlin said.
During the slow times in the tower, he said he gets out an old block of wood and starts whittling.
Some of the bigger fires he's spotted were in the Sandy Ridge and Curwensville Dam areas.
''You wait. It may be someone burning brush. Watch and see if it's spreading,'' McLaughlin said, noting how he approaches the first signs of smoke. ''You can tell a forest fire - the smoke will be a little bubble out of the top [of the forest]. If it starts spreading, you know it's not supposed to be there.''
Smoke-watching grows on a person, he said.
''I don't mind volunteering. It helps the community and helps the taxpayers,'' he said.
McLaughlin says he plans to volunteer for the 2009 season, if he is able.
Mirror Staff Writer Mark Leberfinger is at 946-7462.
