"San Bernardino, Tahquitz Peak in service." With those words on the radio to the U.S. Forest Service dispatch in San Bernardino, California, Doug Wood, Tahquitz Peak Fire Lookout Team Leader, officially re-opened the lookout on Saturday, October 17, 1998.

He then handed over the radio to host Ron Korman for reporting the current weather conditions on the peak, which included winds gusting to 35 mph. It was an interesting struggle to raise the flag, but the team leaders from other lookouts prevailed and for the first time since 1993, flags signaling that the tower was open snapped in the wind. It was the perfect day for the opening. Although the Santa Ana winds were blowing and it was cold, visibility was such that one could see for miles.

Doug Pumphrey, District Ranger of the San Jacinto Ranger District, stood on the newly-repaired steps of the lookout and welcomed an enthusiastic group of lookout supporters. Tom Sensintaffer, manager of the Federal Interagency Communications Center in San Bernardino, welcomed the reappearance of Tahquitz Peak to the fire lookout system. Of the eight lookouts on the San Bernardino National Forest, six have now been re-opened.

Julie Kessler, Fire Lookout Host Coordinator, presented a plaque to Wood, signifying that Tahquitz Peak Lookout has been placed on the National Historic Lookout Register. Wood has headed a team of volunteers who have started remodeling the 51-year-old lookout. Wood then cut the ribbon across the stairs of the tower and invited everyone to a tour, to have a buffet lunch served by lookouts from other mountains and to receive a card signifying the completion of the climb to the summit of the 8,826-foot peak.

The lookout station has the distinction of being the longest continually-operating station in the San Bernardino National Forest - 77 years, 1917-93. It is also the highest lookout in the forest and the only lookout in the forest within a wilderness area.

At one point, more than 30 people crowded into the 14-foot-by-14-foot observation cabin, asking questions and enjoying the incredible view from the tower. Sandy Hanson and Korman were the first scheduled volunteer hosts. They greeted more than 100 visitors that afternoon. Additional volunteer lookouts are needed for next summer with a training program planned this winter. Lookouts are not only trained for spotting fire or smoke, they act as representatives of the U.S. Forest Service, providing general forest recreation information and nature interpretation. If interested in the volunteer lookout training program, call Julie Kessler at (909) 337-2444.

There was a moment of concern when one of the sighting cross-hairs in the Osborne Firefinder became damaged. The problem was solved quickly when a horse hair from the mane of one of the six pack horses used to haul the supplies for the festivities was removed and installed in good time. At 2:15 p.m., the first smoke was sighted near Saddleback Peak, about 40 miles west of Tahquitz. Three other smokes were sighted that afternoon and called in to the dispatch center in San Bernardino.