After the Great Fire of 1910 that burned millions of acres of forest land in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, the U.S. Forest Service began to create policies regarding fire suppression, as well explore better ways to detect fires, including the construction of fire lookouts. In 1933 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt formed the Civilian Conservation Corps, the U.S. Forest Service was able to take advantage of the CCC workforce and initiated a massive program of construction projects, including fire lookout towers.
Due to the abundance of material, as well as low maintenance, and natural resistance to rot and insect attack, fire lookouts through out the Pacific Northwest were originally constructed using Western Red Cedar building materials. An especially popular choice for these structures was Western Red Cedar shake roofing.
We recently had the pleasure of providing 24″ #1 Medium Western Red Cedar Shakes for the restoration of the fire look out on Mule Peak, located in Oregon. Accessible only by foot or pack animal, our friends at Kaplan Homes Unlimited, mounted horses and made the 4,000 foot elevation gain up to the lookout to complete the roof restoration. Please enjoy these photos of their trip.
What an adventure!
Because of our unique business model, we are often contacted to help with historical restorations, such as this. We also provide high quality Western Red Cedar, Alaska Yellow Cedar, and other soft and hardwood building materials for residential, commercial, government, and municipal projects throughout the United States. We go the extra mile to make sure our customers get exactly what they need. Before your next project, be sure to visit us! We ship nationwide!
360.757.6343
950 B Fountain Street, Burlington WA