MOUNT DIABLO
Contra Costa County
December 9, 1923: "M.B. Driver, a member of the City Council of Berkeley, in a letter to the Contra Costa Hills Club, has made the proposal that Mount Diablo be used as a fire lookout station for all of Central California. Speaking on the project, Driver said Mount Diablo is ideal for the central fire control station. This outstanding peak, rising to a height of almost 4000 feet is said to command a view of a larger area than any other mountain in the United States." (San Francisco Chronicle)
June 26, 1925: "As a direct result of the recent damaging fires in the Mt. Hamilton district when flames swept unchecked over more than one thousand acres, proposals have been renewed to establish a fire lookout station on the summit of Mount Diablo, noted landmark of Contra Costa county.
It has been repeatedly declared that the peak, which towers nearly 4000 feet above sea level and is isolated from all of the surrounding country, offers ideal conditions for the establishment of a fire lookout station at its summit.
Those who are now sponsoring the movement for the establishment of a station on the mountain top state that a watchman posted there would be able to watch at once all of the surrounding country of the outbreak of grass or forest fires within an area of more than fifty miles.
A point is also made of the fact that it is this system which provided the most effective fire protection in the Sierras and in the Coast Range, regions that from the standpoint of view are far more obstructed than that of Mount Diablo's top." (Oakland Tribune)
December 22, 1926: "A fire lookout station on top of Mount Diablo may become a reality in the very near future.
Assistance from the State in the establishment of such an outpost by the State Forestry Service is intimated in a letter which has just been received by the Stockman's Protective Association from M.B. Pratt, State Forester.
For many years the association has urged the establishment of a fire lookout station on the summit of the meridian peak. It is the belief of the member of the body that their efforts towards that end are now about to be rewarded with the early establishment of the desired Diablo lookout.
The mountain, it is pointed out, rises abruptly out of a flat area to a height of approximately 4,000 feet. Its isolation from all connecting ranges or peaks plus its height makes it an ideally situated point for the establishment of a lookout station. Its accessibility is another argument voiced by the association, a splendid automobile highway already leading to its summit." (Woodland Daily Democrat)
July 28, 1931: "The roaring fire on Mt. Diablo was reported 'completely out of control' tonight and the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors called a special session at which they voted to call out 'every available man in the county' to fight the fire.
Telephone communications and power lines on the mountain were disabled and the flames were sweeping downward toward ranches and orchards. The line carrying the power for the beacon on top of Mt. Diablo was disabled.
The fire raced up the south slope of the peak, nearly destroying the lookout station and' before a heavy wind, was burning down the other side tonight.
About 300 men were fighting the blaze at last reports, with more arriving every few minutes. County jail prisoners were drafted to help fight the blaze. The spectacle of the blazing mountainsides was visible for miles." (The Searchlight)