Life as the Last Fire Lookout

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

Great story . Here in San Diego California we lost an Unsung Hero named Norm Mitchel about 5-6 years back who did Fire lookout out at the old “ Los Pinos” lookout tower About 50 miles or so East of Downtown. Norm was my friend and worked there tirelessly for over 25 years , and had stories & log book entries of visits from people his whole career. He was an enigmatic figure there & anyone who he met became his friend , and Norm had MANY . He is missed by those who knew him as he passed away suddenly one year , and the tower has pretty much fallen into nowhere near its former glory as the Forest service doesn’t man it hardly anymore that I can tell at least , and it needs some repairs , things that Norm did willingly & as far as I knew out of his own pocket as he loved his job & took pride in his work , and it showed. Your guy here in this video immediately reminded me of Norm , and I wanted to say “ Thank you , for doing this service , and for all you do “ Rest In Peace , Norm Mitchel.

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.

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

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

“It’s one thing to read the account of a homesteader, but it’s another thing to stand on their front porch.” This truly speaks to the tangibility of a place like these lookouts. Beautiful video. Just absolutely amazing.

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.

I was born in washington and have lived here for 10 of my 16 years on this planet and I just wanna say how grateful i am for people like this guy for protecting the lands of washington because these rolling mountains and forests are the most magical things i've ever seen on this planet and I dont know what i would do if i couldn't go and enjoy them, and thank you for capturing the beauty of washington in this video.