It takes about 40 minutes in a good pickup on Jordan Hill Road to get to the Sawmill Peak Lookout Tower. It takes just as long to get there coming from Concow Road on the other side. That's one of the reasons it's so hard to catch the vandals who damage the structure every year.
Graffiti? Check. Jimmied locks? Check. Bullet holes? Check. Broken windows? Check. This time the vandals threw one of the chairs through the window, busted up the tower's door and peeled back some steel mesh to gain access to the tower. Almost all the windows have been replaced because of damage over the years.
"We usually don't find it until days later," said Cal Fire's Joe Campbell, who began his first shift at the tower Thursday.
The place is so remote that vandals are usually long gone by the time the damage is discovered, he said. The lookout has been staffed since July 1 this year, though the damage wasn't repaired until this week, said Les Olinger, President of the Friends of Sawmill Peak, a nonprofit fundraising group that pays to staff the tower through donations.
It takes about $24,000 to keep the lookout staffed from July to October, about $8,000 a month, said Olinger. Right now, Olinger has $19,000 and he hopes to raise another $5,000 to make it to the end of the season. The money goes toward repairs and paying the salaries of the two staffers, who each work alternating shifts of three days on/three days off, then four days on/four days off.
And what a view.
"On a clear day you can see the Sacramento skyline," Campbell said.
While at the lookout, staffers get a panoramic view of the valley, the canyon and the forest. In the middle of the tower is a fire finder, which helps them locate fires in remote areas so they can radio coordinates to spotter planes and fire engines.
Originally built out of wood in the '20s, the tower was refurbished into a steel structure in the '60s. Everything from lightning strikes to campfires can be seen from the tower, which is considered one more tool in the fight against wildfires.
Without the tower, it would take calls from citizens on the ground before a remote fire could be spotted. Nearby lookout towers are not staffed because Cal Fire has no money, Campbell said.
That the Sawmill Peak lookout is staffed at all is because the residents of the town want it staffed. That's why they keep donating, Olinger said. But the vandalism never ceases. There was some thought to putting in a security system, but Olinger said the system itself would likely be vandalized once it was discovered.
"Someone is always devious enough to get through," Campbell said.
And so Olinger and Cal Fire are encouraging locals to keep their eyes and ears open to put a stop to the vandalism. To date, not one vandal has been caught.
"It's costing (the community) money," Olinger said. "We need to get everyone involved so we can catch who's doing it and stop it."
Those who want to donate to the Sawmill Peak lookout can write a check to Friends of Sawmill Peak Lookout Tower. The checks can be dropped off at 208 Pearson Road where Olinger's Downtown Market is located. Olinger also runs The Lookout Store, a second-hand store that donates its proceeds to the Sawmill Peak Lookout.