Life as the Last Fire Lookout

don't fall in love with your supervisor that you never met over a radio.

"This land is worth more than the industries that want it." -- so true, and wonderfully said

This is my uncle Russ. As long as I can remember he’s been doing this and I always follow his Facebook posts and other things to see what he’s up to. I showed this to my dad-his brother- and he had no idea this documentary was made nor did I. This is an incredible video and I appreciate you shining light on this badass of a man

First time here, this is like honestly movie style quality filming, really enjoyed it. 👍

Ever since I played Firewatch the game this job has always played around in my mind and it sounds amazing to be able to live by yourself in nature when you need a break from chaotic cities and things which clutter your life up.

These visuals are amazing

I put myself through university by working 4 seasons as a fire lookout in eastern WA state. Best job ever - getting paid to look out the window and what a view!!! So grateful to have had that experience.

Fire Lookouts are just plain cool, they are the inspiration for my 195 square foot off grid cabin have been living in these past 12 years! An excellent quality video!

Dude seems like a chill guy, I wonder if he has ever seen anything unusual going on in those woods. I think the towers should be preserved for future history.

Your use of black and white imagery when Russ is recalling his history like flashes of his memory is superb attention to detail and really added to his story. Really ❤ your storytelling.

I love randomly finding YouTube videos like this; the quality is so high and the subject matter so earnest and interesting. These videos aren’t just ‘content’, they’re films!

As a prior fire lookout and now firefighter this is a good story. However there are a lot more active lookouts than you said, also there is a federal archive that documents these towers and puts them in a protected category.

i've been watching your videos for so long and i'm seeing you evolve into this info-nature documentary niche makes me so happy. BTW you're one of the people that taught me to make videos :)

First of all - the cinematogrophy, color grading and editing is exceptional in this video. Second - I like many others didn't know fire lookouts existed until the game Firewatch. Me as somewhat of lonewolf was extremly fascinated with the thought of fire lookouts and the job that they were doing!

If you guys like horror, yall should try Fears to Fathom: Ironbark Lookout. Its literally a park ranger that is looking out for fires but something ominous is going on in the forest. Very scary.

the Smokey the Bear program was one of the most effective government programs ever. I got to spend one season in a lookout tower 2010 in Montana, that was the last year that tower was staffed, most lookouts now are 'vacation rentals'. Thank you so much for sharing this...I will never forget that summer.

Really well done. I’ve known Russ for many years and helped replace the roof on that lookout a few years back. As well as showcasing the historical value of these structures, you captured the essence of a fine man doing a job he dearly loves.

As someone from the UK where we have nothing like lookouts it's something I've always been super fascinated by (as many people I was first introduced to them by the game Firewatch and have just had a fascination with them ever since!) and will definitely be one of the things I hope to see when I do eventually visit America

Can’t get over how good the editing, color grading and cinematography are in your videos! Very impressive stuff!

Earlier this week I had an opprotunity to play the game "Firewatch". I had a buddy of mine recommend it to me- lone behold I finished the game in two days. I must admit I don't know how I should feel, but it's a good feeling of not knowing how to feel. Out of place, yet comfortable and settled. (10/10 game, definently recommend) This video not only showcases the beautiful tradtions of being a fire scout, which specifically resonated with me because of my experience I recently had with the game Firewatch, but also the true BEAUTY of America's forests. The stories told, the imagination of standing where an old scout once did, looking over the horizon for any ounce of smoke that could be a fire. What a video. Very well done.