Jasper County Democrat, Volume 23, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1920 — KEEPS LONELY VIGIL [ARTICLE]

KEEPS LONELY VIGIL

Girl Has Task of Guarding Forests From Fire. Former Newspaper Woman Has Spent Two Summers In Quiet Lookout on Top of Mountains. Denver. —Following two successful seasons, during which pretty Miss Helen Dowe of tills city, in her capacity of forest Are lookout, has discovered more than a score of Incipient blazes, officials of the National Forest service are convinced that women are equally qualified as men in the art of chasing down the tiny wisps of smokh that sometimes lead to serious conflagrations In the thickly wooded districts of the Rocky mountains. Miss Dowe Is the only member of her sex to the West who holds, the position of forest fire lookout From June until late October Miss Dowe lives on the summit of Devil's Head peak* 9,300 feet high above sea level and 65 miles southwest of Denver. From sunrise to sunset Miss Dowe scans the horizon, sweeping the thousands of acres of forest land beneath her powerful glass, constantly alert for the least sign of smoke, which often means birth of the terror of the timber country —the forest fire. There are no Sundays or holidays for Miss Dowe. Occasionally, after a heavy downpour of rain or when clouds obscure the earth below, she gets a brief respite. Going to the fire lookout station early In summer, she must cook her own meals and perform all the work necessary to keep her cabin and lookout station in repair. She must chop her own firewood and carry her own water. Previous to assuming her duties as forest fire lookout. Miss Dowe was a Denver newspaper woman.