Fire lookouts in the region can work long hours ... "And she asks, I want to get my husband out of the house for five months, what's he have to do to apply for it?" ...

LEWISTON – Fire lookouts occupy an uncommon spot in the world. Their function is simultaneously anachronistic and essential. They exist in wildly remote spaces yet are satellites of human ...

The writers Edward Abbey, Gary Snyder and Norman McLean all staffed high-elevation fire lookouts in the West—their experiences rich fuel for their work. But Jack Kerouac’s reaction makes me smile.