Historic firetower and Smokey Bear at Natural Resources Park, Ohio State Fairgrounds (photo courtesy of ODNR)
Rose Hollingsworth, Washington Electric Cooperative
Q. Dear Chip: My husband and I were fascinated by your article titled “Smokey’s House: Ohio’s Historic Fire Towers” in the July 2025 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living magazine, and have a few questions:
1. What was the size of the living quarters at the top of the towers?
2. Were there restroom accommodations? Porta potty? Outhouse below?
3. Were towers manned by volunteers or was it a paid job?
4. How high were the towers?
5. Communications? Before cell phones were there short-wave radios to call in fire alerts? Or walkie talkies? Did they have electricity?
A. Hi, Rose: What I learned about fire towers in researching the story, and through my own experience, is that there were no standard sizes for fire towers, as they were erected by various state and federal agencies over a period of decades. But that said, 12' x 12' would be a good approximation of the living quarters.
There were large windows on each of the four sides of the towers for maximum visibility, and as a result the spotters had spectacular views stretching for miles. Restroom facilities usually consisted of an outhouse on the ground near the base of the towers, but I'm guessing that old-fashioned "chamber pots" were also often used to avoid a climb down the stairs and back up again in the middle of the night.
Yes, fire spotters working the towers were paid for their time, but certainly no one got rich. The towers were erected atop hills or mountains, and of the Ohio towers I’ve visited about 100' would be an average height. Communications systems were a hodgepodge of the various forms you listed. Some towers had electricity while others didn't, usually depending upon how remote the towers were.
Janet Martin, Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative
Q. I am interested in the Native Americans who live, specifically, at or near Canter’s Cave in southeast Ohio. I am also interested in the Native Americans in this area in general; maybe you could give me ideas where I could research more information of that nature. Also, I think there is a group of Cherokee(?) Indians who used to meet once a year around here - maybe out at Camp Bountiful or something. Are you familiar with that?
A. Janet: I know more about the Native Americans who lived here in the distant past than currently, but we now have our own Native American Center in Ohio. It’s called NAICCO, which stands for Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio, and here is their website: https://www.naicco.com/. They should be able to answer your questions about current Indians living in Ohio.
For historical Indian information, I would suggest contacting the Ohio History Connection, which was formerly called the Ohio Historical Society until a few years ago. The website is https://www.ohiohistory.org/.
