A HUGE thanks goes to Brad Elles for all he has done to orchestrate the remodeling and opening of the historic High Point Lookout. Brad is a man of ACTION! It is truly amazing what was accomploished with his leadership in 2009. He has an update for us including that the remodeling Boucher Lookout looks promising, ( Hooray!), thanks to MANY and a lot more. ~Bonnie
Click for Brad’s great newsletter:
From: Brad Eells
Subject: Happy New Year and Thanks from the Forest Fire Lookout Association
Hello Fire Detection Team, Fans and Friends,
We have come to the end of a very busy and successful year in 2009. I want to convey my thanks to great number of people who have helped make our San Diego – Riverside Chapter program successful this past year.
I look forward to continued improvement in the program and growth with our volunteer group and facilities.
Here are some updates:
High Point Closed for the Season
Bill Bollenbacher, Duncan Campbell and I converged on High Point December 6th to close the lookout and found…3 inches of ice! We were able to prepare the interior for the winter but could not attach the shutters or remove the batteries.
So…Bill Bollenbacher, George Greer and I returned on December 18th to bolt up all but two shutters – The cab has some hardware challenges we need to resolve to attach the remaining shutters. While we were there we found…
High Point Receives Upgraded Grounding System
Scott with Code 3 Electric and the crews from Engine 36 and Engine 31 working on a modern lightning protection system. We watched in amazement as 1 inch copper cables were welded directly to the tower legs and a new grounding loop was installed in trenches around the tower and repeater vault.
High Point will be one of the very few lookouts with completely modern grounding system that will include 8 lightning rods or air terminals on the cab roof and catwalk rails. The Forest Service funded this project and we thank them for doing so!
FFLA National Board of Directors Meeting
Is coming up! The meeting will be held Saturday, January 16th at the Palomar Ranger District Office on Black Canyon Road in Ramona. All of our members and the general public are invited and encouraged to attend. Please RSVP if you can be there.
FFLA San Diego – Riverside Chapter Receives County Grant
San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn has provided our organization with a $40,000 grant to be used restore the remaining lookouts in northern San Diego County. We have 12 months to invest the money in our projects…what to do???
Boucher Hill Lookout
The FFLA-SRC is actively pursuing an agreement with California State Parks to restore and reopen Boucher Hill Lookout located on southwestern Palomar Mountain within the state park.
I believe that Boucher Hill can become an interpretive showplace for the lookouts and the fire detection system that once existed. The access and the structure lend itself to this idea.
A few hurdles still have to be worked out to complete the structure’s transfer from Cal Fire to the park.
We may need to help encourage Cal Fire to complete the process…stay tuned to find out how we can help.
Chapter Annual Meeting
I would like to set Saturday, January 23rd for our annual general meeting. Stay tuned for details.
Winter Reading
Here is the article published in The Boulevard Magazine (page 22-30) last August:
www.theboulevardonline.com/Issues/BLVD0809.pdf
The FFLA national website has published a series of short articles called “Lookout Show & Tell” by Ray Kresek of the Lookout Museum in Spokane WA:
www.firelookout.org/ffla-snt-series.htm
Thanks to All of You!
I want to thank all of the people inside and outside our organization who have helped make our program reality. High Point was staff for 88 days of 171 possible between June 13th and Dec 5th. 1000’s of volunteer hours were expended on research, restoration and fire detection in the short span of 1 year.
My heartfelt thanks go to:
The Cleveland National Forest:
Will Metz – Our Forest Supervisor who gave us the opportunity to move forward with High Point and perhaps, addition projects…
Brian Harris – Forest Public Relations Officer and FFLA Liaison, for jumping in with both feet to support our organization and for his outstanding cabinet building skills.
Carlton Joseph – Forest Fire Chief, for supporting the idea and presenting at our training day.
Duncan Campbell – Forest Communications, who’s constant enthusiasm helped make our restoration complete.
Steve Harvey – Forest Archaeologist, who provided access to the forest photo archive, historical surveys and general encouragement for the restoration at High Point.
Noelle Graham – and the Forest Engineering team for doing the safety survey work and generally putting up with us.
Rex Templeton – Forest Facilities, for helping with a myriad of details on the structure and restoration.
Greg Mendez – Forest Safety Officer, for working with us to complete our manuals, JHA’s and presenting at our training day.
Jeri Hayes and Staff – Emergency Communications Center (Cleveland Dispatch). Volunteers on the radio can be challenging. We thank the dispatch team for their patience and willingness to work with us.
Palomar Ranger District:
Joan Friedlander – District Ranger, who was probably wondering…who is this crazy guy who wants to restore our lookout? I appreciate her guidance and patience as we have developed the program.
Wes Ruise – Fire Battalion Chief and District FFLA Liaison, for working to develop the program, communicate concerns and providing a history lesson with his 30 years experience on the district.
Tim Gray, Captain and the Engine 36 crew – for helping us with whatever needed doing, from hauling our stove to the top, communications and fire shelter training and so on…
Kerri Uglik – Fire Prevention/Patrol, for helping with the restoration, interviewing several retirees about their recollections of High Point.
Jesse Valenzuela – Fire Prevention/Patrol, I’m not sure how we talked him into hauling all that floor tile up the tower…but he did!
Trabuco Ranger District:
Debra Clarke – Wilderness Manager and Volunteer Liaison, Honored with a 2009 Forest Service Chief’s Award Recognizing Volunteerism on National Forests, Despite wrangling 450 volunteers on her own district, Debra managed to take the time to provide me encouragement and introductions to keep our project moving forward.
Ken Forden and the Tailgate Maintenance team – one of Debra’s volunteer teams who stepped up for a project off their district to construct not 1, but 2 fire-finder stands. The first stands proudly at High Point, the second is hopefully bound for Lyons Peak some day…
Brett, Frank and ‘Hollywood’ – The Fire Prevention/Patrol team for putting up with ‘The Crazy Lookout Guy’ at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival for 2 years in a row! Their encouragement and introductions helped us continue forward.
Forest Service – Pacific Southwest Region:
Eugene Kim – Region Architect, for allowing us access to original drawings and plans for our project.
Forest Service – National Headquarters
Joe Fleming – Engineer, San Dimas Technology and Development Center, for his help and information on Osborne Fire-Finders
Bureau of Land Management:
Clay Howe – Battalion Chief, for providing a lot of history and encouraging a lot of people to support our project.
California State Parks:
Nedra Martinez – District Superintendent for working with us on the potential project at Boucher Hill.
Jeff Lee – Supervising Ranger and staff at Palomar Mountain State Park, for keeping an eye on Boucher Hill and saving it from burning during the 2007 Poomacha Fire.
Alex Bevil and Jim Newland, Historians for providing a great deal of background on Boucher Hill and taking the time to digitize the forest’s photo archive.
Los Coyotes Indian Reservation – Tribal Council:
Francine Kupsch – Spokeswoman, for providing an opportunity to visit Hot Springs Mountain Lookout to consider a project there.
Milton Campbell – Council Member, for escorting us to the lookout, improving the road and sharing his history.
San Bernardino National Forest Association – Fire Lookout Host Program:
George and Pam Morey for providing constant support, training, manuals, etc.
Al Brown, Eileen Phillips, PJ Smith, Ken Anderson for providing our classroom training program.
Bob Romano – Tahquitz Peak Tower Leader, for supporting me every step of the way.
Jeff Palmquist – Morton Peak Tower Leader, for taking on the project of remanufacturing the Osborne Fire-Finder and providing us the parts we needed.
CDF Museum:
Jerry Glover – Museum Manager, for providing a wealth of information on Boucher Hill, Tecate Peak, Mt Woodson and Red Mountain Lookouts.
Palomar Observatory – California Institute of Technology:
Dan McKenna – Superintendent
Scott Kardel – Public Affairs Coordinator – Thanks to both of you for supporting the project and providing great access to the lookout.
Tower Glass:
Barry Swaim, Mark Wade and the ‘Glassmen’, they donated the material and time to replace the cab glass at High Point on a horrible weather day. Our cab is now watertight and beautiful!
Dixieline Lumber:
Jeff Herron, Store Manager, for providing the majority of the materials needed to build the cabinets, finish and paint the cab interior. Dixieline has an incredible lumber yard!
Palomar Mountain Real Estate:
Bonnie Phelps, who provided training facilities and through the Palomar Mountain News, a way to communicate with the residents on the mountain.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors:
Supervisor Bill Horn and his staff members, Chris Champine and Caylin Guering for providing grant funds for our 2010 projects.
Supervisor Dianne Jacob, for facilitating opportunities to provide better access to Lyons Peak.
The Media:
J. Harry Jones – San Diego Union-Tribune
Alicia Robinson – Riverside Press-Enterprise
Dave Downey – North County Times
David Ross – The Valley Roadrunner and The Boulevard Magazine
KGTV – Channel 10 TV
All for media coverage of our project, lookout history and fire detection. Their stories and coverage brought us precious volunteers, donations and funding.
Forest Fire Lookout Association:
Keith Argow – Chairman, Gary Webber – Treasurer, Dave Bula – Western Deputy Director, Bob Spear – Historian, George and Pam Morey – Southern California Division Directors and Kathy Ball – Buck Rock Foundation and Central California Division Director, for providing continued support and inspiration.
San Diego – Riverside Chapter:
Bill Bollenbacher has really been a right hand from the very beginning and built the bookshelf unit for the lookout. Richard Hart, Glenn and Barbie Shrier, George Greer, and Joe Jackson got our In Tower Training program functional. Joe has retired to Colorado…we’ll miss you! Richard’s son-in-law, Lee Duelgroff produced a fine engineering report on the condition of Hot Springs Mountain Lookout.
Ray Trussell provided a generator for power on site at High Point. Martin Heflin made a couple of media appearances for us and donated the flag pole. Roger Bailey provided Del Mar Fair coverage along with George and Martin. He also provided grant application advice. Curt Waite brought us a beautiful center piece for the dining table.
Brett Thorne replaced the subflooring. John Kennedy and Lee Hultgren did a beautiful job installing our new tile floor.
Thanks to everyone who provided Fire Detection coverage at High Point Lookout this season. Our work provided at least one if not two first reports this year courtesy of Bill Bollenbacher and Curt Waite. Glenn and Barbie Shrier were on shift at the start of the Vail Fire and just missed a first report.
Thanks again to everyone…onwards and upwards for 2010!
Cheers,
Brad Eells, National Secretary – Chapter Chairman
Forest Fire Lookout Association, Inc.
San Diego – Riverside Chapter
661-747-5517
From: Brad Eells
Subject: Happy New Year and Thanks from the Forest Fire Lookout Association
Hello Fire Detection Team, Fans and Friends,
We have come to the end of a very busy and successful year in 2009. I want to convey my thanks to great number of people who have helped make our San Diego – Riverside Chapter program successful this past year.
I look forward to continued improvement in the program and growth with our volunteer group and facilities.
Here are some updates:
High Point Closed for the Season
Bill Bollenbacher, Duncan Campbell and I converged on High Point December 6th to close the lookout and found…3 inches of ice! We were able to prepare the interior for the winter but could not attach the shutters or remove the batteries.
So…Bill Bollenbacher, George Greer and I returned on December 18th to bolt up all but two shutters – The cab has some hardware challenges we need to resolve to attach the remaining shutters. While we were there we found…
High Point Receives Upgraded Grounding System
Scott with Code 3 Electric and the crews from Engine 36 and Engine 31 working on a modern lightning protection system. We watched in amazement as 1 inch copper cables were welded directly to the tower legs and a new grounding loop was installed in trenches around the tower and repeater vault.
High Point will be one of the very few lookouts with completely modern grounding system that will include 8 lightning rods or air terminals on the cab roof and catwalk rails. The Forest Service funded this project and we thank them for doing so!
FFLA National Board of Directors Meeting
Is coming up! The meeting will be held Saturday, January 16th at the Palomar Ranger District Office on Black Canyon Road in Ramona. All of our members and the general public are invited and encouraged to attend. Please RSVP if you can be there.
FFLA San Diego – Riverside Chapter Receives County Grant
San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn has provided our organization with a $40,000 grant to be used restore the remaining lookouts in northern San Diego County. We have 12 months to invest the money in our projects…what to do???
Boucher Hill Lookout
The FFLA-SRC is actively pursuing an agreement with California State Parks to restore and reopen Boucher Hill Lookout located on southwestern Palomar Mountain within the state park.
I believe that Boucher Hill can become an interpretive showplace for the lookouts and the fire detection system that once existed. The access and the structure lend itself to this idea.
A few hurdles still have to be worked out to complete the structure’s transfer from Cal Fire to the park.
We may need to help encourage Cal Fire to complete the process…stay tuned to find out how we can help.
Chapter Annual Meeting
I would like to set Saturday, January 23rd for our annual general meeting. Stay tuned for details.
Winter Reading
Here is the article published in The Boulevard Magazine (page 22-30) last August:
www.theboulevardonline.com/Issues/BLVD0809.pdf
The FFLA national website has published a series of short articles called “Lookout Show & Tell” by Ray Kresek of the Lookout Museum in Spokane WA:
www.firelookout.org/ffla-snt-series.htm
Thanks to All of You!
I want to thank all of the people inside and outside our organization who have helped make our program reality. High Point was staff for 88 days of 171 possible between June 13th and Dec 5th. 1000’s of volunteer hours were expended on research, restoration and fire detection in the short span of 1 year.
My heartfelt thanks go to:
The Cleveland National Forest:
Will Metz – Our Forest Supervisor who gave us the opportunity to move forward with High Point and perhaps, addition projects…
Brian Harris – Forest Public Relations Officer and FFLA Liaison, for jumping in with both feet to support our organization and for his outstanding cabinet building skills.
Carlton Joseph – Forest Fire Chief, for supporting the idea and presenting at our training day.
Duncan Campbell – Forest Communications, who’s constant enthusiasm helped make our restoration complete.
Steve Harvey – Forest Archaeologist, who provided access to the forest photo archive, historical surveys and general encouragement for the restoration at High Point.
Noelle Graham – and the Forest Engineering team for doing the safety survey work and generally putting up with us.
Rex Templeton – Forest Facilities, for helping with a myriad of details on the structure and restoration.
Greg Mendez – Forest Safety Officer, for working with us to complete our manuals, JHA’s and presenting at our training day.
Jeri Hayes and Staff – Emergency Communications Center (Cleveland Dispatch). Volunteers on the radio can be challenging. We thank the dispatch team for their patience and willingness to work with us.
Palomar Ranger District:
Joan Friedlander – District Ranger, who was probably wondering…who is this crazy guy who wants to restore our lookout? I appreciate her guidance and patience as we have developed the program.
Wes Ruise – Fire Battalion Chief and District FFLA Liaison, for working to develop the program, communicate concerns and providing a history lesson with his 30 years experience on the district.
Tim Gray, Captain and the Engine 36 crew – for helping us with whatever needed doing, from hauling our stove to the top, communications and fire shelter training and so on…
Kerri Uglik – Fire Prevention/Patrol, for helping with the restoration, interviewing several retirees about their recollections of High Point.
Jesse Valenzuela – Fire Prevention/Patrol, I’m not sure how we talked him into hauling all that floor tile up the tower…but he did!
Trabuco Ranger District:
Debra Clarke – Wilderness Manager and Volunteer Liaison, Honored with a 2009 Forest Service Chief’s Award Recognizing Volunteerism on National Forests, Despite wrangling 450 volunteers on her own district, Debra managed to take the time to provide me encouragement and introductions to keep our project moving forward.
Ken Forden and the Tailgate Maintenance team – one of Debra’s volunteer teams who stepped up for a project off their district to construct not 1, but 2 fire-finder stands. The first stands proudly at High Point, the second is hopefully bound for Lyons Peak some day…
Brett, Frank and ‘Hollywood’ – The Fire Prevention/Patrol team for putting up with ‘The Crazy Lookout Guy’ at the Temecula Balloon and Wine Festival for 2 years in a row! Their encouragement and introductions helped us continue forward.
Forest Service – Pacific Southwest Region:
Eugene Kim – Region Architect, for allowing us access to original drawings and plans for our project.
Forest Service – National Headquarters
Joe Fleming – Engineer, San Dimas Technology and Development Center, for his help and information on Osborne Fire-Finders
Bureau of Land Management:
Clay Howe – Battalion Chief, for providing a lot of history and encouraging a lot of people to support our project.
California State Parks:
Nedra Martinez – District Superintendent for working with us on the potential project at Boucher Hill.
Jeff Lee – Supervising Ranger and staff at Palomar Mountain State Park, for keeping an eye on Boucher Hill and saving it from burning during the 2007 Poomacha Fire.
Alex Bevil and Jim Newland, Historians for providing a great deal of background on Boucher Hill and taking the time to digitize the forest’s photo archive.
Los Coyotes Indian Reservation – Tribal Council:
Francine Kupsch – Spokeswoman, for providing an opportunity to visit Hot Springs Mountain Lookout to consider a project there.
Milton Campbell – Council Member, for escorting us to the lookout, improving the road and sharing his history.
San Bernardino National Forest Association – Fire Lookout Host Program:
George and Pam Morey for providing constant support, training, manuals, etc.
Al Brown, Eileen Phillips, PJ Smith, Ken Anderson for providing our classroom training program.
Bob Romano – Tahquitz Peak Tower Leader, for supporting me every step of the way.
Jeff Palmquist – Morton Peak Tower Leader, for taking on the project of remanufacturing the Osborne Fire-Finder and providing us the parts we needed.
CDF Museum:
Jerry Glover – Museum Manager, for providing a wealth of information on Boucher Hill, Tecate Peak, Mt Woodson and Red Mountain Lookouts.
Palomar Observatory – California Institute of Technology:
Dan McKenna – Superintendent
Scott Kardel – Public Affairs Coordinator – Thanks to both of you for supporting the project and providing great access to the lookout.
Tower Glass:
Barry Swaim, Mark Wade and the ‘Glassmen’, they donated the material and time to replace the cab glass at High Point on a horrible weather day. Our cab is now watertight and beautiful!
Dixieline Lumber:
Jeff Herron, Store Manager, for providing the majority of the materials needed to build the cabinets, finish and paint the cab interior. Dixieline has an incredible lumber yard!
Palomar Mountain Real Estate:
Bonnie Phelps, who provided training facilities and through the Palomar Mountain News, a way to communicate with the residents on the mountain.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors:
Supervisor Bill Horn and his staff members, Chris Champine and Caylin Guering for providing grant funds for our 2010 projects.
Supervisor Dianne Jacob, for facilitating opportunities to provide better access to Lyons Peak.
The Media:
J. Harry Jones – San Diego Union-Tribune
Alicia Robinson – Riverside Press-Enterprise
Dave Downey – North County Times
David Ross – The Valley Roadrunner and The Boulevard Magazine
KGTV – Channel 10 TV
All for media coverage of our project, lookout history and fire detection. Their stories and coverage brought us precious volunteers, donations and funding.
Forest Fire Lookout Association:
Keith Argow – Chairman, Gary Webber – Treasurer, Dave Bula – Western Deputy Director, Bob Spear – Historian, George and Pam Morey – Southern California Division Directors and Kathy Ball – Buck Rock Foundation and Central California Division Director, for providing continued support and inspiration.
San Diego – Riverside Chapter:
Bill Bollenbacher has really been a right hand from the very beginning and built the bookshelf unit for the lookout. Richard Hart, Glenn and Barbie Shrier, George Greer, and Joe Jackson got our In Tower Training program functional. Joe has retired to Colorado…we’ll miss you! Richard’s son-in-law, Lee Duelgroff produced a fine engineering report on the condition of Hot Springs Mountain Lookout.
Ray Trussell provided a generator for power on site at High Point. Martin Heflin made a couple of media appearances for us and donated the flag pole. Roger Bailey provided Del Mar Fair coverage along with George and Martin. He also provided grant application advice. Curt Waite brought us a beautiful center piece for the dining table.
Brett Thorne replaced the subflooring. John Kennedy and Lee Hultgren did a beautiful job installing our new tile floor.
Thanks to everyone who provided Fire Detection coverage at High Point Lookout this season. Our work provided at least one if not two first reports this year courtesy of Bill Bollenbacher and Curt Waite. Glenn and Barbie Shrier were on shift at the start of the Vail Fire and just missed a first report.
Thanks again to everyone…onwards and upwards for 2010!
Cheers,
Brad Eells, National Secretary – Chapter Chairman
Forest Fire Lookout Association, Inc.
San Diego – Riverside Chapter
661-747-5517
Palomar Mountain News 
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