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.