Burgard Fire Lookout at St Johns

In August of 1951, a devastating fire burned 2,400 acres, or 25 percent of Forest Park in Portland. Three emergency lookouts were established across the Multnomah River, Burgard was one of the three.

In 1952, a firefinder stand and a telephone were developed by the Portland City Parks Bureau to watch Forest Park from the other side of the Multnomah River. The exact location has not been determined but it was somewhere in the area of the old shipyard.

The website Firelookout also listed the firefinder at an elevation of 31 feet. This seems low, but both Burgard Way and Burgard Road are down on the flats, in the old shipyard.

A second possibility for the location could be the St. Johns water tower area. This location is on the bluff, overlooking the old shipping yard. The 4-legged steel tower was there prior to 1951 and stands at a height of 1500 feet tall. This is considered high ground for this area. In 1952, aerial photos show the area was completely devoid of vegetation and would have a clear view. Today, trees block the view from the water tower.

A third possibility is the Sitton school, just a few blocks away from the water tower at the corner of Reno Avenue and Hudson Street. USGS surveyors reported in 1938 and 1941 that the school had a square wooden cupola above the main entrance. They called the location the ST JOHNS SITTON SCHOOL CUP FS. I think the FS stood for Fire Station. The nearby lookout in the fire station/police station in downtown St. John used the same terminology by the surveyors (ST JOHNS FIRE POL STA CUP FS). A remodel in the spring of 1942 removed the cupola. It is likely, this cupola was just decoration on the school but maybe it was used for fire. The cupola was on the North Hudson side of the building so facing Forest Park. If it was used originally as a lookout, in 1952, the cupola was gone, so the site was not necessarily the site used in 1952.