‘This is a time for all of us to step up’: Fire lookout shares importance of job at tallest fire tower in C.O.

(Update: Adding video and comments from fire lookout)

PAISLEY, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Bald Mountain Fire Lookout is the tallest lookout tower on the Fremont-Winema Forest. Ron Rommel has been staffing the tower since 2019.

On a clear day, Rommel can see as far as Mount Shasta. He starts his day at 9 a.m., checking in with Walker Range in Crescent, and the Lakeview tower.

Along with watching for smoke columns, Rommel reports on weather conditions and wind, to keep up with potential fire risk.

Rommel recently invited NewsChannel 21 for a visit, offering us a chance to come talk "with a forester and author who can share a unique perspective from 7,400 feet in elevation. … You will be well above the smoke."

When the threat of fire is high, Rommel and the other lookouts can be on duty for as long as 30 days.

According to Rommel, the Forest Service is in talks about possibly decommissioning some lookout towers and installing cameras instead, eliminating the need for manpower.

"Yes, the cameras are very valuable, and they can detect smoke and that sort of thing and fire," Rommel said Wednesday. "But when you have somebody here on the ground that can actually in a tower make a decision, that's a very critical way of getting things accomplished in a quick order."

He believes it's up to the lookout to catch the fires before they grow large, even catastrophic.

"This is not a time to subtract people from these locations," he said. "This is the time to employ people. This is a time to get people up and ready. This is a time for all of us to step up."

The lookouts hope to be able to have their towers updated in the future, instead of relying solely on cameras.