Lavina Fire Lookout Loss

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Update from CJ for July 29, 2025

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A lot happened in the background leading up to this event. Back when the fire was happening, we were closely watching the fire map as it approached the fire tower. We were getting pictures sent to us from locals near the bottom of the mountain. We postponed the event, as the fire could have crossed the road and blocked us in at the tower, requiring tactical rescue to get out. We believe that the tower burned down 4 days before our scheduled maintenance event was to take place. We were speaking with locals, looking for hard evidence of the tower’s destruction before we made our announcement of its loss. Two towers lost in two years was obviously quite devastating to the Association. Right away, we set up a volunteer registration form, and we had people and companies reaching out offering to assist with the rebuild efforts by supplying their labour, or their materials.

I quickly began discussions with our Recreation Sites and Trails of British Columbia (RSTBC) representative who oversees the Lavina rec site regarding rebuilding the tower. The individual was immediately on board with our efforts and willing to support us with the endeavor. We planned to speak again in the new year. In the fall after the tower burned down, individuals attempted to go up to the tower but were met with devastation to the road and to the collapsed forest blocking their way. In January, I began discussions with RSTBC to develop a plan for regaining access to the tower. The plan was this:

• The British Columbia Wildfire Service would send their members up in the spring and do danger tree assessment and felling leading up the road to the tower site, using the area as a training ground allowing them to hone their skills, a win-win. They would work their way up from the bottom as the snow melted from the trail.
• Once the BCWS members were pulled away to deal with the start of the wildfire season in the province, contractors were hired to take over to clear the road so that we could regain access to the site again.
• Confirm whether a geotechnical assessment was required in order to reopen the trail.
• RSTBC would try to secure funding for the rebuild efforts of the tower, expected to arrive in April.

The RSTBC rep and I agreed to check in come March.

When March rolled around, I again reached out to RSTBC to confirm the plans were still in motion. They confirmed that BCWS were beginning to perform their danger tree assessment. Shortly after this, funding was secured for the next two years for the tower rebuilding efforts. RSTBC requested we speak with our volunteers and other resources to see if someone was willing to help clear the road with heavy equipment and potentially the tower demolition. Not long after, I was informed by RSTBC that a local contractor, Sunshine Logging LTD., was willing to use their equipment to perform the work, and they would be able to have an excavator on site for demolition. When the schedule for the clearing of the road was confirmed, I created and began to advertise the annual Lavina Maintenance event. Matt Ion, the Director of Communications for the 4WDABC, also created an events page, and I reached out to the volunteers who signed up after the tower burned down to inform them of the progress we were making and the plan going forward.

With a plan to regain access to the tower site, discussions of demolition began. We knew what still stood of the tower due to a BCWS crew landing their helicopter at the site and providing us close-up photos of what remained. One of the people who reached out on our volunteer form was Jordan Jones from Town Architecture in Kaslo. He offered his services to help us with the rebuild efforts, along with a structural engineer that he partnered with. Negotiations between the 4WDABC, RSTBC, and the architect commenced until an agreement was reached.

Objectives for the maintenance event were:

• Installation of a new outhouse
• Demolition of required portions of the tower following a structural assessment
• Site cleanup of all debris, in particular all the nails and screws the tower was built with, so that people and animals were not harmed, and vehicle tires were not damaged.

The week before the event, Aaron Stead met with me and the representative from RSTBC early on a Saturday morning to collect the new outhouse for Lavina. Aaron then transported it all the way to Keith in New Denver.

The contractors who were working on the road to get us access to the tower before Saturday were running the buncher up the road on the Monday and Tuesday before to clear up all of the deadfall blocking the road and nearby on either side to reduce further blockages from dead trees. On Wednesday and Thursday they walked the excavator up the road to the tower site, clearing further obstacles and repairing the road from the buncher tracks tearing it up. I received a call Thursday night that the excavator had reached the site and was ready to go.

On Friday after the road was opened following the work done by Sunshine’s crew, the architect and I ascended the trail to the tower, the first 4×4 vehicles to do so since the tower had burned. An assessment of the structure was made, and information was passed to the structural engineer for review. We descended from the tower, and I joined camp with the volunteers who had arrived for the following day’s work.

In the morning I received the green light from the architect that the slab could be kept and that only the walls had to be demolished. Our members began ascending the trail to the tower site, with Keith going up first before the excavator crew, hauling the new outhouse up in his Tacoma. Once we arrived on site, we quickly got to work identifying a suitable new outhouse location and cleaning up all of the debris around the tower so that it would not be spread around the site once the demolition began. Once the tower area was sufficiently cleaned, the excavator crew began the demolition. It was a bittersweet moment: what had stood for over 50 years was knocked down in only 2 minutes. The excavator crew worked quickly and efficiently, and we had difficulty keeping up with their pace of work. They leveled out the site and cleared off the tower foundation in preparation for the work still to come.

At the end of the day, we managed to accomplish all of our goals for the maintenance event. We all went back to camp riding the high of a tremendously successful day.

I want to give a special thanks to:

• Recreation Sites and Trails British Columbia for being on board with the tower rebuild, securing funding for the rebuild efforts, arranging for BCWS and Sunshine to clear the trail to regain access to the Lavina rec site
• Brian Pratt for negotiating on behalf of the Association with RSTBC and the Architect, getting critical resources we needed to begin this rebuild
• Aaron Stead for helping to pick up and transport the new outhouse
• Keith Macaulay for hauling the new outhouse from New Denver up to the Lavina site, and for your hard work getting it installed
• Steve Fontaine for heading to the campground early and providing crucial intelligence leading up to the event such as road conditions, as well as your continued hard work year after year to keep this place special
• Rachelle Tomm & Charlie Fitzsimons for preparing and cooking a massive spread of food on top of a mountain for lunch to all of the hardworking volunteers
• Jordan Jones at Town Architecture for partnering up with us and RSTBC to make this rebuild happen
• Kyle Campbell for documenting our efforts and drawing attention to the good that the association does

We also had a number of volunteers whose efforts were critical to the success of the day. I am terrible with names, so if I forgot someone, I apologize!

Viola Vatter
Mark Tottenham
Adrian Huber
Santino Saraceni
Stewart Garrick
Rob Honeyman
Lane Wilson

– CJ Hendriks

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Update from CJ for Sept. 28, 2024

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We can now confirm that the Mt. Lavina Fire Lookout, the second fire tower on our roster since 2014, has been lost to a wildfire.

The following was written by C.J. Hendriks, regional rep in the Kootenays and point person for maintenance work on Lavina over the past few years.

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It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of another historic fire tower within the province. The Lavina Mountain Fire Tower has been lost to the Argenta Creek wildfire. All that appears to remain at this point is the concrete block base of the tower. The Kootenays experienced a large number of wildfires, which grew rapidly after a thunderstorm passed through the region. Wildfires like those in the Slocan Lake Complex are still displacing a lot of people, including members who themselves have put their time and effort into maintaining the Lavina fire tower over the years to make it such a cherished destination. We are saddened not only for the loss of this tower, but for our supporting members as well as the general public who have lost even more during these trying summer times.

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This tower has stood since 1974, was adopted by the 4WDABC in 2014, and in 2021 became home to a West Kootenay Amateur Radio Club repeater, adding important radio coverage to the Kootenay Valley. Boasting spectacular views from the north end of Kootenay Lake to the south end of Duncan Lake, the tower has been a bucket-list destination for many backcountry enthusiasts, drawing people from all over British Columbia, other provinces, and the United States. Numerous members, locals, and enthusiasts have dedicated their time and energy to help maintain the tower over the years and make it something the Association was proud of.

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As with the Nahatlatch lookout, we will endeavor to rebuild the tower, but we must not be hasty; there is much work to be done before we may commence building. Once it is safe to access the area again, we will need to assess what remains of the tower’s concrete base structure to see what condition it is in – it is likely that this will need to be demolished, which will be no small task on its own. After that will be cleanup and removal of debris and burned trees.

The Lavina Lookout Recreation Site is a gem of the Kootenays, and while the tower may have been lost, the site will continue to hold excellent recreational value once access has been deemed safe.

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