Notes From The Tower

FAQ

Mount Frankland is part of the DBCA’s tourist trails in the national parks around Walpole, so naturally the fire tower folk meet plenty of people on holidays. Summitting climbers are often surprised to see someone in the tower and here are some of their questions.

 

“Dr Livingston, I presume?”

Yes, and I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you

 

“What are you doing?”

I’m looking for smoke and doing weather reports.

 

“Are they still doing this? I thought that was back in the olden days!”

We’ve been doing fire and weather lookout here since the 1960s. It’s a simple system for early detection of bushfires.

 

“Do you serve ice-cream?”

No. Bring your own ice-cream.

 

“Do you get taken up by helicopter?”

I got up here the same way as you just did.

 

“Great office!”

I know, right?

 

“Do you come up here every day?”

Yes, between December and March.

 

“Don’t you use AI or drones?”

Human eyes and knowledge of the landscape is pretty accurate. AI cameras are getting better at detecting smoke and one day my job will be sitting in front of a computer rather than atop a mountain. At the moment, I can see a smoke hours before it registers on a heat map.

 

“Are you alone the whole time?”

I hope you may be parsing this question wrong but also please don’t be creepy.

 

“How many hours do you do?”

That depends on the fire danger index. My day gets longer as the FDI goes up.

 

“Are you a volunteer?”

(This question always bugs me. Who would volunteer their whole summer when they could be making heaps of money elsewhere. Unless they are retired – and therefore, the insinuation is that I’m old and retired? Whoa, it’s getting personal now.)

No. I’m paid very well, thank you very much.

 

“Do you climb up three times a day like those old tower guys?”

I bring up my lunch.

 

“How many fires have you seen?”

Lots. Christmas Day, New Years Day and I caught that one over near Mt Barker a week ago.

 

“There are no toilets up here. Where do you go to the toilet?”

Bush wees are no problem. Bush poos are horrible and problematic. Would you like me to elaborate?

 

“What do you do with your time?”

I love audio books and podcasts and the radio. I can’t really read books because my eyes are down and I need to be looking up and around, constantly scanning the horizon.