Pano said its customers typically pay $50,000 per year to gain access to one fire lookout station. Deep-pocketed companies such as PGE can afford it, but local fire chiefs such as Schneider cannot.

Nationwide, including lookouts run by other federal, state and local agencies, perhaps 300 are in service, according to Gary Weber, treasurer of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, a preservation ...

For the person who wants it all, the answer can be renting a U.S. Forest Service lookout... Fire-lookout rentals offer wilderness with comfort SF Gate Logo Hearst Newspapers Logo ...

Some New York lookouts are even older, including the Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station, which was first erected in 1897 and is believed to be the oldest fire lookout in the Empire State.

While historic fire lookouts dot the Colorado landscape, advancing technology has meant fewer of these structures are staffed than in the past; let's meet one of the state's only full-time lookouts.