Fire Lookouts Search Through Smoke, For Smoke

When the smoke starts billowing skyward, you can bet someone already knows about it.

They are the eyes in the sky — the lookouts on the High Desert.

Trained to spot fires, like the 47-acre blaze burning near Lava Butte, the second they start.

“I can see things that most people wouldn’t be able to see,” Paula Simone said Wednesday from the Lava Butte lookout. “And even in the smoke, you can look through the binoculars and still see it. So typically, if someone is concerned about smoke in their backyard, they call me and ask me to take a look at that area.”

The most helpful tool — the Osbourne Firefinder, a map designed to help lookouts pin point exact coordinates of the blazes.

“During a fire, I’ll turn the map, line up the crosshairs, and it’s just like a giant compass, with degrees and minutes,” Simone said.

Other maps line the lookout with coordinates, elevation and geology to help target the flames.

On Lava Butte, the elevation is at 5,020 feet, while the lookout is about 20 feet taller.

And when big blazes break out, the lookouts’ pace of work can go from zero to intense in the blink of an eye.

Telling the difference between smoke from one fire and smoke from a new blaze is one big challenge lookouts face, especially when the lightening strikes.

“For a moment, I had no visibility of Awbrey Butte,” Simone said. “But the other thing we also do is let them know that there is smoke moving through the area, especially Deschutes River Woods, because that’s a huge concern for people.”

Visitors to Lava Butte on Wednesday said the smoke isn’t a big bother, and the lookout brings some ease.

“This is a great resource for this whole region to have,” said Kyle Walior, visiting from Washington. “You can see the area they they cover just from this one lookout, so this is a great resource for this area to have.”

Fire crews completed a burnout Wednesday on the wildfire encircled by lava northwest of Lava Butte.

Fire managers said that should mean much less of the smoke that billowed into Bend Wednesday morning.

The cause is still under investigation, but it’s believed to be human-caused.