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Fire lookout · Tehama County, California

Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout Site

Also known as Vina

Vina's lookout station was replaced after lightning in 1961, then demolished in 2018 for a new Cal Fire helitack base that operates today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The station and lookout were demolished in 2018; the site is now an operating Cal Fire helitack base.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Two-story buildingFire station with a cupola (a firefinder inside) and barracks; the 1961 replacement was virtually identical to the originalThe design: Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1954
Height
Unknown
Elevation
259 ft (79 m)
Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection - Tehama-Glenn Unit (Cal Fire TGU)
Land
Unknown
Location
Tehama County, California
Coordinates
39.92881, −122.02727
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-ca-vina-forest-fire-station-and

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1954 BuiltOriginal station and lookout, dated circa 1954 by the register. The Chico paper gives 1955 for the base.Sources: firetower.org, chicoer.com
  2. 1961 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  3. 1961 DestroyedOriginal station and lookout destroyed by lightningSource: firetower.org
  4. 1961 RebuiltReplacement station, virtually identical to the original; the register's Built field gives 1961Source: firetower.org
  5. 1974 AlteredBase updated for helicopters; Cal Fire describes it as an operational helitack base since 1974Sources: chicoer.com, tehamacountyfire.org
  6. No record between 1974 and 2018
  7. 2018 RemovedOld station and buildings demolished to make way for a new helitack baseSources: firetower.org, chicoer.com, tehamacountyfire.org
  8. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 29, 2019 as US 1885, CA 80Source: firetower.org
  9. 2020 EventFirst in California to take delivery of the new Black Hawk; base then reported as year-round, 24-hour operationSource: tehamacountyfire.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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Vina is a community in Tehama County, along Highway 99 between Chico and Red Bluff.1,2,3 The base sits on a small, grassy hill just east of the highway.1

The original station and lookout, which the register dates to about 1954, were destroyed by lightning in 1961.1 The replacement went up that year and was virtually identical to the original.1 A 2018 Chico newspaper report gives 1955 as the date of the older base, so the two sources differ by a year.2

The register describes a cupola that still held a firefinder, and says a barracks and mess hall were added later in the 1970s.1 It also notes that fire engines were no longer housed at the facility.1 The base has been operational as a helitack base since 1974, and the Chico paper says it was updated for helicopters that year.2,3

In 2018 Cal Fire tore down the old buildings and demolished the station to make way for a new helitack base.1,2 Cal Fire expected the project to cost $15.26 million, and in March moved the helicopter to Red Bluff Airport so the work could go ahead.2 The rebuilt base includes a barracks for 22 people, and the 2018 plan also listed a rescue training tower, a radio tower and a weather station.2,3

The county now describes the base as running 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with a night-vision goggle program.3 In the summer of 2020 Vina was the first in California to take delivery of a new Black Hawk.3 The base responds in initial attack to wildland fires in Shasta, Tehama and Butte counties.3

No source describes public access to the grounds today. The register's note that the site is open to visitors carries a 1991 date, so it describes the old station, not the base as it stands now.1 No source describes any part of the old station still standing.1

  1. Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/ca/vina-forest-fire-station-and-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Firefighting helicopter's base at Vina being replaced, Chico Enterprise-Record, https://www.chicoer.com/2018/04/26/firefighting-helicopters-base-at-vina-being-replaced/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. CAL FIRE Vina Helitack Base, Tehama County Fire, https://www.tehamacountyfire.org/cal-fire-vina-helitack-base/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout - 2008
Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
2008 - Helitack Station since 1974
2008 - Helitack Station since 1974 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout Site
Photo: Cal Fire Museum, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout Site
Photo: Cal Fire Museum, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Vina Forest Fire Station and Lookout Site
Photo: NorCal Fire Weather, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
New Helitack Base under construction with Training Tower - 2018
New Helitack Base under construction with Training Tower - 2018 (2018)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.