TULARE COUNTY
BUCK ROCK
Sequoia National Forest
14S-29E-6
14S-29E-6
August 28, 1939: "With a blinding flash and a deafening roar, for a second time lightning stuck the Buck Rock lookout house in the Sequoia National Forest but Don Ray, forest service lookout, escaped uninjured, according to J.F. Elliot, forest supervisor.
Don, who was sitting on his well-insulated stool, keeping track of the lightning strikes, was badly shaken but otherwise unharmed. The house stands on top of a sheer rock 150 feet above the surrounding area and is insulated with heavy wires which lead off to the ground, protecting the building and occupant from such lightning strikes.
Six fires were started by the storm, but all were controlled to less than a quarter of an acre." (Bakersfield Californian)
Don, who was sitting on his well-insulated stool, keeping track of the lightning strikes, was badly shaken but otherwise unharmed. The house stands on top of a sheer rock 150 feet above the surrounding area and is insulated with heavy wires which lead off to the ground, protecting the building and occupant from such lightning strikes.
Six fires were started by the storm, but all were controlled to less than a quarter of an acre." (Bakersfield Californian)
August 28, 1939: "Don Ray, in charge of the Buck Rock Lookout in the Sequoia National Forest, knows what it is to be under fire and probably would prove impervious to shell shock should he ever find himself dodging the big ones at the front lines.
The lookout stands on top of a sheer rock 150 feet above the surrounding area and is insulated with heavy copper wires which lead off to the ground, protecting the building and its occupant from lightning strikes.
During the recent electric storm in the High Sierra the lookout was struck twice while Ray was counting the flashes. The second bolt struck with a blinding blue flash and a deafening roar, but Ray, sitting on an insulated stool and protected by the copper wire insulation, continued to count the strikes.
Six fires were started by the storm but they were all controlled before gaining headway.: (Fresno Bee)
December 8, 1944: "Miss Leatrice Evinger, the daughter of Coy Evinger, and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. L.S. Harman, is having a vacation before taking up new duties. She has been employed in the position of 'lookout' at Buck Rock ranger station, and will leave January 1 to have charge of a forestry office at Pinehurst." (Bakersfield Californian)
June 11, 1945: "Miss Virginia Graham has been transferred to Buck Rock Lookout from Oregon Lookout where she has been working." (The Fresno Bee The Republican)
June 11, 2002: "Buck Rock Lookout will be closed to the public temporarily until its stairway can be fixed.
The lookout was determined unsafe by Forest Service engineers, who found its 172-step flight of stairs deteriorating.
The Forest Service will make repairs on the lookout before reopening it in early July.
Limited use of the lookout will continue for fire detection by Forest Service and volunteer personnel. It is the primary location for the detection of wildfires in the northern portion of the Sequoia National Forest.
The lookout is located at 8,502 feet, where it sits atop a granite dome, offering a view of the Great Western Divide and other mountain peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
It was built in 1923. It is historically significant, representing a structure of which there are only three in existence today." (Tulare Advance-Register)