DNR Officials Will No Longer Use Fire Lookout Towers

Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said they will no longer use the state’s 72 fire lookout towers because they believe the towers aren’t a safe or necessary tool to monitor for wildfires.

The DNR plans to increase airplane monitoring for potential fires instead.

Trent Marty, director of the DNR’s forest bureau, said fire towers were only staffed for 17 days last year, and 90 percent of forest fires are now reported by citizens.

Most of the towers were built in the 1930s and Marty said they’ve become a safety issue.

“You know they’re 100-foot towers on the higher spots across the state of Wisconsin in fire-prone areas of the state and we would have to make a large investment, probably around $25 million to replace those towers,” he said. “Public health and safety is our number one priority as is safety of our firefighters — both the fire department and the fire department personnel on the fires — and we pride ourselves on rapid initial attack on initiating fires to keep them small.”

Michigan and Minnesota have also reduced or eliminated the use of fire towers, Marty said, and instead rely on aerial monitoring and 911 calls.