Essex County towns to see lighted fire towers

ELIZABETHTOWN | The neighboring towns of Keene and Elizabethtown will both see lighted fire towers on Labor Day weekend as part of a statewide celebration of successful fire control efforts to protect one of America's great natural treasures, the Adirondack Forest. The lightings are set for Aug. 30 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m., with a rain date set for Aug. 31. People are encouraged to pick their favorite spot and watch the tower lights come on. This year's dramatically dry North Country weather, leading to a rare late summer burn ban in Essex County, is a reminder of what those ungainly-looking towers were all about. Fire observers were hired to go up onto key peaks to watch for fires after several hugely destructive fires ravaged hundreds of thousands of Adirondack acres in 1903 and 1908. The first observers had no towers and sometimes lived in a tent on the peaks. The Elizabethtown tower is attached to the Adirondack History Museum in town and features displays on the region-wide firefighting system anchored by towers until the 1970s. The museum tower is a composite of two towers that were dismantled and removed from their mountaintop homes, Kempshall Mountain near Raquette Lake and West Mountain near Long Lake, and assembled at the museum. The Keene tower is on Hurricane Mountain; it is 3,678 feet high and is one of the most popular hikes in the Adirondack High Peaks region. That tower was rehabilitated and opened for hikers back in 2015. The NYS Chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association coordinates the statewide Labor Day weekend lighting, now in its 12th year. Last year, 30 towers were lit up, and more are signed up for this year. The event is held to honor the men and women who worked in these historic towers, protecting homes, businesses, communities, and surrounding forests. Volunteers climb the fire towers to place a light in steel structures around the state. Members of the public are encouraged to participate by finding locations in their community (listed on our website) where they can look up, see the light on the horizon, and remember that there was a fire tower there watching over them. This is not a hiking event. Plan a small gathering, plan refreshments, and enjoy. All Illuminators will read aloud the names of those who served in the towers as they turn on the light. In Elizabethtown, people can walk right up to the tower and also see the light from Hurricane Mountain, about 7 miles away. For more information about the statewide lighting project, visit nysffla.org.

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Essex County towns to see lighted fire towers

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