Fire Lookout Leif Haugen
“The Lookout” is a documentary about fire lookout Leif Haugen, who has manned the Thoma lookout in the North Fork of the Flathead every summer since 1994. Filmmaker Brian Bolster wanted to capture the daily life of a lookout – and his effort won the Big Sky award at this year’s Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. In this feature interview, News Director Sally Mauk talks with Haugen and Bolster about the film – and the life of a fire lookout…
This interview interested me particularly because, as a young teacher, I dreamed of being a fire lookout for a summer! Here is an account of what one day is really like.