CASSIA COUNTY
MOUNT HARRISON
Sawtooth National Forest
September 3, 1942: "Benjamin F. Powell of Albion, since last Wednesday has been on top of Mt. Harrison acting as a fire lookout for the Minidoka National Forest. He has a short wave radio with him and can talk to and listen to the local headquarters office at any time. He reports almost every hour.
'Since from his look-out point most of the forest and surrounding valleys are visible, he can spot any fire at once and notify the office and crews can be sent out before damage starts,' explained John T. Mathews, forest supervisor." (The Burley Herald)
'Since from his look-out point most of the forest and surrounding valleys are visible, he can spot any fire at once and notify the office and crews can be sent out before damage starts,' explained John T. Mathews, forest supervisor." (The Burley Herald)
1942: "A lookout was established on Mount Harrison and maintained throughout the fire season. Radios were used for communication." (1942 supplement – History of the Minidoka National Forest)
July 15, 1962: "Hunter Nelson, of the Sawtooth national forest service, took a trailer house to the Mt. Harrison lookout station south of Albion Thursday. The trailer house will be lived in by the lookout personnel there during the fire season." (The Times-News)
August 9, 1964: "Since July 1 people in this area were watched whether they knew it or not. On that date the forest service again moved its lookout trailer to Mount Harrison on the mountains north and east of Oakley.
The purpose of the move was to provide a constant watch for any signs of a range or forest fire. Not only will it be a watch tower, but also home for the next few months to Mr. and Mrs. Glen E. Anderson, Heyburn, and their family, who also manned the controls last year.
All the conveniences of home are in the lower half of the trailer, with an observation tower overhead. The trailer was one of four built according to specifications supplied by the forest service and is the only one located in region four, which consists of Utah, southern Idaho, New Mexico and Western Wyoming. The other three are located in Arizona, Colorado and Montana.
The trailer is 26 feet in length, while the tower is 10 feet off the ground. Built for rugged use, the trailer has an angle-iron bumper and heavy duty construction throughout.
A collapsible tower is stored in specially built containers in the bedroom of the trailer after each of the four 'wall windows' are removed.
Lowering the roof of the tower takes from one to one and one-half hours." (The Times-News)
July 8, 1966: "Dave Gillett, Declo, has assumed the duties of Mt. Harrison fire lookout, replacing Jim Reid, Jerome, who was drafted into the Armed Forces." (The Herald-Bulletin)
September 29, 1977: "New blood has recently been pumped into the outdated fire lookout station on Mt. Harrison southwest of Albion, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Since the lookout is a valuable check point in forest fire prevention, the only fire lookout south of the Snake River, the outdated buildings and Forest Service trailer house there are being replaced with a permanent structure.
At a cost of $25,000 the facility will be a two-story building designed to withstand the heavy weather at the top of the 9,265 peak. It will have a ground floor storage area and a second story for living quarters and lookout facilities.
The project, which will be nearly complete by winter and ready for occupancy by spring, has been planned to allow for addition of a Visitor Information Center at a later date.
According to the Forest Service, the mountain receives about 3,500 visitors annually between July and October. It is administered by the Sawtooth National Forest.
The new lookout provides a high degree of fire detection potential for Cassia and Albion divisions of the forest, the Raft River and Black Pine divisions and thousands of acres of Bureau of Land Management land.
Since the Cassia division of the forest is noted for a history of large fires, the much needed lookout is expected to facilitate early detection and more rapid control of fires in the area at a lower cost." (The Times-News)
September 2, 1999: "Located south of Burley - but more than a mile above the Magic Valley - sits a tiny fire lookout on the wind-swept summit of 9,265-foot Mount Harrison. The cramped outpost is what Jim Sheridan calls his 'home away from home.' Every summer for the past 15 years, he has spent 24 hours a day, five days a week in the lofty aerie." By Mark Weber (The Times-News)