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Fire lookout · Humboldt County, California

Pratt Mountain Lookout Site

Humboldt County steel lookout built 1934; dismantled before 2011, with the cab and 14 feet of tower reported lying on the summit; a 2006 CAL FIRE plan to remove and display it was not carried out as written.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Mountain is privately held; an older register note (marked 10/91) says the site is not open to the public and lies about 2.2 miles from the nearest paved road

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower dismantled before 2011; the register says the cab and 14 feet of tower remain laid on their side at the original site

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower45-foot Aermotor steel tower with a Forest Service BC-201 residenceThe designs: BC-201, Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1934
Height
45 ft (13.7 m)
Elevation
3,899 ft (1,188 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), Humboldt-Del Norte Unit
Land
Unknown
Location
Humboldt County, California
Coordinates
40.12024, −123.69288
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-pratt-mountain

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.6 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1934 BuiltFacilities built 1934 per the register; a 1930 plan and a 1931 newspaper item gave earlier datesSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 StaffedStation near Harris closed for the season; F.R. Chase named as lookout man (clipping dated October 26, 1935)Source: californialookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1982
  4. 1982 StaffedPete Monahan named as lookout operator in a 1982 photo captionSource: firetower.org
  5. 1985 EventState officials said the fire lookouts were exposed to unsafe radio levels from the KERG antenna; FCC cut power to 2,000 watts until fire season endedSource: californialookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1985 and 2006
  7. 2006 EventCAL FIRE notice of exemption (posted August 21, 2006) for removal to a conservation camp for restoration and possible display in Garberville; no record found that the display happenedSource: ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
  8. 2011 RemovedRegister says dismantled before 2011; 2011 is the June 25 visit that found it already dismantled. Actual removal date unknownSources: firetower.org, californialookouts.weebly.com
  9. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 9, 2019 as US 1802, CA 40; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  10. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The lookout on Pratt Mountain stood on the broad summit of Mail Ridge in southern Humboldt County, and the station took its name from State Forester Pratt.1,2 As early as 1930, Merritt B. Pratt reported plans for a steel tower there.1 A newspaper in April 1931 said a thirty-foot steel tower would be erected that spring.2 The register puts construction of the facilities no earlier than 1934, and describes a 45-foot Aermotor Company tower with a Forest Service BC-201 residence.1 The Civilian Conservation Corps built both buildings.1

In October 1935 the Blue Lake Advocate reported that the Pratt station near Harris had closed for the season, naming F.R. Chase as lookout man.2 A 1982 photo caption names Pete Monahan as lookout operator.1

In the 1950s the state forestry agency remodeled the cab, adding a catwalk and a door.1 The register also mentions a garage built in 1950 near the residence.1

In September 1985 the Ukiah Daily Journal reported that state officials said the fire lookouts were being exposed to unsafe radio levels from the antenna of station KERG, less than 35 yards away.2 The Federal Communications Commission first ordered the 100,000-watt station to halve its power, then to drop to 2,000 watts until fire season ended on October 1.2

The register dates the steel tower's dismantling only to some time before 2011.1 In August 2006 CAL FIRE posted a notice of exemption for a project to take the lookout off the summit, restore it at a conservation camp, and possibly lend it for display in the Garberville area.3 A June 2011 visit found the tower already dismantled.2 A note on that visit said an Eel River work camp had been employed in removing the tower, sometime during the winter, but the fate of the cab and 14 feet of tower was unknown.2

The register's later account does not match that 2006 plan.1,3 According to the register, the cab and 14 feet of tower remain on the site, lying on their side where the lookout originally stood.1 A caption in the register, credited to Google Earth, shows the residence cabin intact in April 2019, with the lookout on its side.1

The mountain remains in private hands and is still used as a communications site, with many radio vaults and towers along the ridge.1 An older note, marked 10/91, says the site is not open to visitors and sits about 2.2 miles from the nearest paved road.1

  1. Pratt Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/pratt-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Pratt Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts, https://californialookouts.weebly.com/pratt-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Pratt Mountain Lookout Removal and Restoration, CEQAnet, https://ceqanet.lci.ca.gov/2006088195 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Pratt Mountain Lookout - June 1982
Pratt Mountain Lookout - June 1982 (1982)Photo: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
First tower on Pratt Mountain
First tower on Pratt MountainPhoto: www.lastmiledigital.com, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Pratt Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: www.lastmiledigital.com, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Crew on Pratt Mountain
Crew on Pratt MountainPhoto: www.lastmiledigital.com, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1930's tower down sometime prior to 2011
1930's tower down sometime prior to 2011 (1930)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
First tower on Pratt Mountain
First tower on Pratt MountainPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pete Monahan - Lookout Operator - 1982
Pete Monahan - Lookout Operator - 1982 (1982)Photo: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tower and BC-201 Residence Cabin - 1982
Tower and BC-201 Residence Cabin - 1982 (1982)Photo: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
BC-201 Residence Cabin - 1982
BC-201 Residence Cabin - 1982 (1982)Photo: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Weather Station - 1982
Weather Station - 1982 (1982)Photo: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Residence Cabin - From the cab
Residence Cabin - From the cabPhoto: Bob Foley, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
April 2019 image showing intact residence cabin with the lookout on it's side
April 2019 image showing intact residence cabin with the lookout on it's side (2019)Photo: Google Earth, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.