Patrick's Knob fire tower a relic of the pioneer days
A firefinder, invented by William Osborne Jr. in 1911, is shown inside the Patrick's Knob fire lookout on the Lolo National Forest. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Jack and Judy Foster take a tour of the Patrick's Knob fire lookout on the Lolo National Forest. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
A smoke plume from the Elmo 2 Fire west of Flathead Lake is seen from the Patrick's Knob fire lookout on the Lolo National Forest. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
The Patrick's Knob fire lookout on the Lolo National Forest. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)
Ken Richardson’s day starts at sunrise in the Patrick’s Knob fire lookout and ends at sunset.
Always scanning the mountaintops and river valleys for any signs of smoke, he spends his third season at the tower sending out weather reports and answering questions from visitors that brave the bumpy, rocky and very dusty climb up to the 6,837-foot mountaintop...
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