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Historic tower burns to the ground |
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September 5, 2016 |
 The
historic Little Snowy Top Lookout Tower on the
Priest Lake Ranger District was destroyed by
fire in late afternoon on September 3.
A member of the public reported the fire to the
Northeast Washington Interagency Communications
Center. The Coeur d’Alene Interagency Dispatch
Center immediately dispatched firefighters to
the tower by helicopter.
Unfortunately, the structure was completely
engulfed in flames and could not be saved.
The fire did not escape the immediate area and
was completely contained.
Little Snowy Top was the only remaining 1930s
vintage groundhouse L-4 lookout in the Priest
Lake area. Located only two miles south of the
Canadian border on the Shedroof Divide in
Boundary County, its use was phased out in the
1960s, but it escaped demolition due to its
remote location at the end of a difficult
nine-mile trail that has since been closed.
 In
1987, volunteers from the Spokane Mountaineers
and the Priest River Back Country Horsemen
assisted the Priest Lake Ranger District of the
Idaho Panhandle National Forests in a two-year
restoration effort of the 14’x 14’ groundhouse.
On June 17, 1995, Little Snowy Top was listed in
the National Historic Lookout Register.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Law enforcement officials from the Idaho
Panhandle National Forests are leading the
investigation with assistance from law
enforcement officials on the Colville National
Forest, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. |
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