In this Wednesday, July 18, 2018, photo, Tom VandeWater demonstrates how he uses a device called the Osborne Fire-Finder to pinpoint the location of any smoke or fires he spots from the Coolwater Fire Lookout in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests near Lowell, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
July 29, 2018
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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.