Deasey Mountain Fire Lookout

Office With a View

Maine has a long history of fire protection efforts spanning back to 1891 when the first legislation was passed to create a State Forest Commissioner as well as provisions to appoint fire wardens across the state. In the beginning, wardens were only paid $0.15 per hour. In 1903, 200,000 acres in Maine's unorganized territories burned which prompted the Forest Comissioner to appoint 141 wardens and bumped the pay to $2 per day.

Over the years, 155 fire towers were established across Maine. In the 1950's, fire towers started to be replaced by surveillance aircraft. Today, there are only 2 fire towers that remain active and 15 open to the public, which makes the Deasey Mountain Fire Lookout a rare opportunity glimpse into Maine's fire history.

Fast Facts

• Installed: 1929 by Maine Forest Service, used for fire detection until 1969.

• Elevation: 1,950 ft

• Cab details: 8 ft x 8 ft, anchored by four heavy cables attached to eyebolts set in granite.

• Uniqueness: a 'ground cab' meaning not on a tower, sits directly on the ground. Located along the International Appalacian Trail (IAT).

• View: Spectacular 360-degree view tincludes Katahdin and other peaks in Baxter State Park, as well as Mars Hill on the Canadian border 50 miles to the northeast.

• The cab has been maintained for 15 years by members of the Maine Chapter of the IAT, who have replaced siding, doors and windows, and have re-roofed the building twice.

• In 2016, IAT installed a replica of the original alidade that was used by wardens to pinpoint the location of forest fires.

Pinpointing the Smoke

The Deasy Mountain Fire Lookout was equipped with an alidade, a sighting apparatus that utilized hand-drawn maps of the geographic features of the area to help the watchers pinpoint the location of fires. By using the alidade, binoculars, local knowledge and a crank telephone, a watcher on a Deasey Mountain was an important link to fire managers trying to understand what was happening in the field.

Replica map: Originally made in 1931 by C.G. Reed., the map is not original but legs are. On June 3, 2016, the Maine Chapter of the IAT trail crew installed the replica map and alidade on the original metal table, with assistance from Katahdin Woods and Waters staff.

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