![]() This means finding and putting out small fires started by the sparks and bits of molten metal that fly around during welding or cutting work. Your primary duty is to sound the alarm in case of emergency, but you're also responsible for monitoring hazardous hot work. Each year, these fires account for 15 civilian deaths, 198 civilian injuries, and $355 million in direct property damage.Īs a fire watch, your job is to make sure your job site doesn't become a statistic. What Is a Fire Lookout's Job?Īccording to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), an average of 4,630 structure fires break out every year related to hot work. ![]() You can also find fire watch jobs through security companies, which offer fire watch patrols in buildings or facilities where fire may break out unexpectedly. This means fire watch jobs are available in industries like construction, industrial maintenance, oil and gas, shipyards, and more. Many fire watch jobs are in construction, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires a dedicated fire watcher for any welding or cutting work performed somewhere that "other than a minor fire might develop," or under certain conditions, most of which mean that combustible material is nearby or that fire alarm and suppression systems aren't operational. Instead of watching for wildfires caused by lightning strikes in the forest, you're looking for manmade fires caused by "hot work" on certain job sites. As a fire lookout, your entire job – just like someone in a fire tower – is to monitor for fire hazards and call for help if needed. You're just not going to be on a mountaintop while you do it.Īlthough the jobs are unrelated, modern fire watch positions are a sort of spiritual successor to forest fire watchers. There are just a few hundred seasonal forest fire watch jobs left in the country.īut the job of a fire lookout hasn't gone extinct so much as evolved – you can still make a living at monitoring for fires and sounding the alarm. during the Great Depression, and at this point, the job has mostly been replaced with aircraft and other tech solutions. They monitored for wildfire smoke and recorded the location of lightning strikes, then reported any fires via light signals, carrier pigeons, or radio.įire tower jobs peaked in the U.S. What is a Fire Lookout?Ī career as a "fire lookout" used to be synonymous with forest fire watchers who lived near and worked in remote fire lookout towers, employed by federal or state forestry services. By doing their job well, they can save lives as well as property. Fire lookouts' sole responsibility is to keep an eye out for potential fires while they're small, and call in fire suppression professionals in an emergency. Fire watch jobs are critical parts of a fire prevention program in some industries.
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