Meet the woman who lives in a 14ft fire lookout in the middle of a 1.6 million acre forest - 35 miles miles away from neighbours and shops.
Courtney McIntosh, 34, moved into 14ft by 14ft fire lookout in the wilderness in Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico, in April 2024.
She lives alone with her dog, Captain Pepperoni, and works from 8am until 6pm on the lookout for any smoke and fires which could destroy the forest - to alert the fire service to extinguish them.
The tiny abode comes with electricity, a stove, a mini fridge but has no running water - instead Courtney fills up water in the ranger station hour and 15 minutes away.
Courtney has to travel two hours car ride to reach the nearest shop - hiking past black bears - to get groceries including dry goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen goods.
Courtney's boyfriend, Michael, 36, has visited the lookout once and Courtney will often take one day off a week and will use the day to do chores like getting mail, laundry, and groceries.
Courtney McIntosh, 34, moved into 14ft by 14ft fire lookout in the wilderness in Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico, in April 2024.
She lives alone with her dog, Captain Pepperoni, and works from 8am until 6pm on the lookout for any smoke and fires which could destroy the forest - to alert the fire service to extinguish them.
The tiny abode comes with electricity, a stove, a mini fridge but has no running water - instead Courtney fills up water in the ranger station hour and 15 minutes away.
Courtney has to travel two hours car ride to reach the nearest shop - hiking past black bears - to get groceries including dry goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen goods.
Courtney's boyfriend, Michael, 36, has visited the lookout once and Courtney will often take one day off a week and will use the day to do chores like getting mail, laundry, and groceries.
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FunTranscript
00:00I moved in about a month ago, so let's do a tour.
00:03Metal structure, 14 by 14 foot, built in 1965, replacing a single story.
00:09Right here is where I walk in, and then here's some little hooks where I keep bags, my shoes
00:15and yoga mats.
00:16And this is my little station where I get ready with my cosmetics and some more storage
00:20underneath.
00:21Typically hold pepper-raised food and water.
00:23Here's my bed, decently comfy.
00:26There's these long drawers that pull out that I store all my clothes as well.
00:31This is where I store all my dry goods, haven't seen any rodents, so hopefully that's still
00:35a safe space.
00:37Little work area as well with more storage underneath.
00:40Pretty long.
00:41And then here's the second bed, you don't see that very often in lookouts.
00:45Some clipboards pertaining to my job, some smoke reports and weather reports.
00:49There's the beautiful fire finder.
00:52And then the second bed mostly just holds my maps and some other blankets and towels
00:56and there's a bookshelf that came with the lookout, I was very grateful for that.
01:01And here's some maps, binoculars and weather belts all stored in there.
01:05Kitchen, four burner stove, ran off propane, decent.
01:10And then a spice rack right there, and some fruits and veggies as well, my little kitchen
01:14sink.
01:15No running water, but you know, it's nice to have.
01:19And then also I put out the little curtain as well to hold all my plates and dishes.
01:23Hey, so today is finally move-in day.
01:28I've been working as a fire lookout for a little over a month and I've been commuting
01:32daily.
01:33And today I get to move into my 14 by 14 foot lookout structure that was built in 1965.
01:40Here's a little preview of what I got going on.