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In this Wednesday, July 18, 2018, photo, Tom VandeWater stands at the railing of the Coolwater Fire Lookout and looks through his binoculars in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests near Lowell, Idaho. VandeWater, from Canton, N.Y., has staffed the lookout each summer for many years for the U.S. Forest Service. Fire-lookout towers, perched atop remote, craggy peaks across the U.S. West, may seem like quaint reminders of an era before satellites, smartphones and jet-propelled air tankers, but the structures and the people who staff them play a crucial role in the nation's front-line efforts to stop wildfires. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

In this Wednesday, July 18, 2018, photo, Tom VandeWater stands at the railing of the Coolwater Fire Lookout and looks through his binoculars in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests near Lowell, Idaho. VandeWater, from Canton, N.Y., has staffed the lookout each summer for many years for the U.S. Forest Service. Fire-lookout towers, perched atop remote, craggy peaks across the U.S. West, may seem like quaint reminders of an era before satellites, smartphones and jet-prope…

July 29, 2018

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Mountaintop lookouts still crucial for spotting wildfires
July 29, 2018 4 a.m.

Mountaintop lookouts still crucial for spotting wildfires

BOISE, Idaho — Fire-lookout towers perched atop remote, craggy peaks across the U.S. West may seem like quaint reminders of an era before satellites, smartphones and jet-propelled air tankers.