Human Lookouts V.S. The Robots... A 35 Year Lookout Veteran, Zeyn O'Leary Gives His Perspective.
Podcast:The Hotshot Wake Up Published On: Wed Mar 19 2025 Description: On Today’s Show: To Subscribe: 👇https://thehotshotwakeup.substack.com/Today, I welcome Zeyn O’Leary, a 35-year veteran fire lookout who has staffed towers since 1991. Zeyn started in the Iron Mountain Lookout on the Willamette National Forest, staffed the Rose Peak Lookout in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, and currently staffs the Mt. Pisgah Lookout in the Ochoco National Forest in Central Oregon. His experience spans multiple forests across three decades.Today, we discuss the fast-arriving detection tech that has incrementally made its way to the mountain peaks of our National Forests and the Satellite tech that has been launched into lower earth orbit, compared to the human eyes that have been looking out for decades. We discuss the 48-page data-driven document Zeyn put together that compares humans versus machines—a fascinating conversation with one of the longest-serving lookouts in the United States. THE HOTSHOT WAKE UP — Thank you to all of our paid subscribers. Your support allows us to donate generously to firefighter charities and supports all of our content. You also receive all of our article archives, more podcast episodes, Monday morning workouts, and also entered into our giveaways, plus more.