A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond to emergency calls for long periods of time, and are summoned to the fire station when their services are needed. They are also expected to attend other non-emergency duties as well.
National Wildlife RefugeSystem (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the Department of the Interior. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife, and plants. Since President Theodore Roosevelt designated Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge as the first wildlife refuge in 1903, the system has grown to over 568 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts encompassing about 856,000,000 acres (3,464,109 km2).
A fire lookout is a person assigned the duty to look for fire from atop a building known as a fire lookout tower. These towers are used in remote areas, normally on mountain tops with high elevation and a good view of the surrounding terrain, to spot smoke caused by a wildfire.
The National Forest Adventure Pass is a recreation fee pass issued by the United States Forest Service that permits bearers in designated regions of four National Forests in Southern California to park their cars for the purpose of recreation. Though it was introduced during the "Recreation Fee Demonstration Program" (Fee-Demo) which ended on November 21, 2004, the Forest Service continues to administer the program, nearly unchanged, under the Federal Lands and Recreation Enhancement Act. This act, derisively dubbed by some as the "Recreation Access Tax" (RAT), was passed in December 2004 as part of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The four national forests it applies to are the Angeles National Forest, Cleveland National Forest, Los Padres National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest.
The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.
Cleveland National Forest encompasses 460,000 acres, mostly of chaparral, with a few riparian areas. A warm dry mediterranean climate prevails over the forest. It is the southernmost U.S. National Forest of California. It is administered by the U.S. Forest Service, a government agency within the United States Department of Agriculture. It is divided into the Descanso, Palomar and Trabuco Ranger Districts and is located in the counties of San Diego, Riverside, and Orange.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsibility totaling 31 million acres, as well as the administration of the state's private and public forests. In addition, the department provides varied emergency services in 36 of the state's 58 counties via contracts with local governments. The department's current director is Joe Tyler, who was appointed March 4, 2022, by Governor of California Gavin Newsom.
A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower provides housing and protection for a person known as a "fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or other high vantage point, to maximize viewing distance and range, known as view shed. From this vantage point the fire lookout can see smoke that may develop, determine the location by using a device known as an Osborne Fire Finder, and call fire suppression personnel to the fire. Lookouts also report weather changes and plot the location of lightning strikes during storms. The location of the strike is monitored for a period of days afterwards, in case of ignition.
Vetter Mountain is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and within the Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County, California. Elevation 5,911 feet (1,802 m) feet.
As firefighting has a rich history throughout the world, traditions in this profession vary widely from country to country.
TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through education, volunteer community-based action, and advocacy.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to firefighting:
The Watchman Lookout Station No. 168 is one of two fire lookout towers in Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. For many years, National Park Service personnel used the lookout to watch for wildfires during the summer months. It is also a common hiking destination because of its views of Crater Lake and the surrounding area. The building is unusual because it serves the dual purpose of fire lookout and museum. The Watchman Lookout Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Musick Guard Station is a rustic cabin located in the Umpqua National Forest in western Oregon, United States. It was originally built to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest. In the 1990s, the United States Forest Service began renting Musick Guard Station to recreational visitors. The Musick Guard Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Red Hill Fire Observation Station consists of a fire lookout tower, cabin and pit privy located on the summit of Red Hill, a 2,990-foot (910 m) Catskill Mountain peak in Denning, New York, United States. It is the southernmost fire tower in the Catskill Park.
The Angeles Volunteer Association (AVA) is a public service organization dedicated to the preservation and care of the Angeles National Forest working under the safety oversight and supervision of the United States Forest Service as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
The West Fork Conservancy is a 501(c)3 non-profit volunteer organization which collects, bags, and hauls trash and human waste out of the San Gabriel River located within the Angeles National Forest of the San Gabriel Mountains. The Conservancy also removes Graffiti, assists in extinguishing illegal camp fires and cooking fires, and performs whatever other tasks that the United States Forest Service requests of the organization.
Mount Nimham is a 1,273-foot-tall (388 m) mountain in Hudson Highlands of New York. It is located northwest of Carmel in Putnam County. Nimham Mountain is named after Chief Daniel Nimham of the Wappinger tribe. In 1940, an 82-foot-6-inch-tall (25.15 m) steel fire lookout tower was built on the mountain. The tower ceased fire lookout operations at the end of the 1988 fire lookout season and was officially closed the next year. The tower appears on the National Historic Lookout Register and is still open to the public.
Rock Rift Fire Observation Tower, also known as the Rock Rift Fire Tower, is a historic fire observation station located in the Town of Tompkins, Delaware County, New York. The tower stands at the summit of Tower Mountain at an elevation of 2,376 ft (724 m) and rises above the Cannonsville Reservoir, part of New York City’s extensive water supply system. It was built in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places # 100003231 in 2018. The Rock Rift Fire Tower is also listed on the National Historic Lookout Register of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. Its listing numbers are US 1183, NY 41. The tower was transferred to the Town of Tompkins from New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 2017. The land that the tower rests on is owned by New York City as part of their West of Hudson Watershed. The tower was decommissioned from active use in 1989.
The Chews Ridge Lookout is located at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Range of the Los Padres National Forest, about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Monterey and approximately 30 miles (48 km) west of Highway 101. The current tower was built in 1929 and staffed until around 1990. A volunteer organization began recruiting individuals to staff the tower in 2019. The ridge and tower were named for homesteaders Constantine and Nellie Chew, who patented 315 acres (127 ha) on the ridge in the late 19th century. The lookout is accessible from Carmel Valley Road, and then south on Forest Route 18S02/Tassajara Road 9 miles (14 km). Most of the Tassajara Road is unpaved. Some portions of the road are only suitable for high-clearance or four-wheel drive vehicles, and depending on current weather conditions, may become impassible.
