History and Development
The device was invented by William "W.B." Osborne, a United States Forest Service employee from Portland, Oregon, and has been in service since 1915. Mr. Osborne also designed the photo-recording transit for making panoramic records of forest conditions, as well as a collapsible water-bag knapsack for firefighting (U.S. patented in 1935). Many fire finders were manufactured from 1920 through 1935, but the manufacturer, Leupold & Stevens, Inc., stopped production of replacement parts after 1975.
In recent years, with the resurgence and recovery of fire lookout towers, new Osborne devices were needed. The U.S. Forest Service, San Dimas Technology and Development Center (SDTDC) was contacted regarding the deteriorating condition of the Osborne Fire Finders housed in fire lookouts throughout the United States. A pilot program to create new Osbornes was coordinated with manufacturer, Palmquist Tooling, Inc. and now Osborne Fire Finders are available again.
Read more about this topic: Osborne Fire Finder
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