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This page is dedicated to the memory of my good friend and volunteer Joe Knowles, who had graciously given of his time and efforts over the years to staff and train the many volunteer fire lookouts who have helped staff the fire lookouts during past fire seasons. They have added an extra level of help in detecting and protect our community from the threat of fire and other desasters. A special thanks to all the volunteers for their many uncounted hours of repairing, painting, maintaining, coordinating and scheduling of tower coverage during these past fire seasons. Our local communities thank them for all their hard work in these efforts.
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 Joe's Memorial Dedication Plaque |
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Josiah Knowles Memorial Tower Dedication, June 27, 2009 |
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On June 27, 2009, the United States Forest Service and the Sierra National Forest, Bass Lake Ranger District dedicated the fire lookout tower at Miami Mountain in the memory of Josiah (Joe) Knowles, Jr. for his dedicated services to the volunteer program at Miami and in the Sierra National Forest. The ceremony was conducted by U.S.F.S. District Ranger, Dave Martin of the Bass Lake Ranger District in the Sierra National Forest. Also attending from the Forest Service was Patrol 52, Paul Waddell, Bass Lake Ranger Districts Fire Lookout Coordinator for Miami Mountain. District Ranger Dave Martin gave the dedication speach and then unveiled the permanent monument (photos below) with the dedication plaque mounted on it. The monument was erected by the volunteers at the lookout. Volunteers attending the ceremony were: Richard Camp (Volunteer Coordinator), Al Johnson, Barbara Thormann, Don Cohn, Jim and Kathie Silvester, Alice Ketman and Jeff May. Attending for the family were Jonathan Craig Knowles, Ann Morrow Knowles, Jonathan Craig Knowles, Marlene Craig Knowles, Samuel James Knowles and Martha Eads. |
 Josiah Knowles Memorial Tower |
 (L to R) Paul Waddell and Dave Martin dedicating the tower. |
 (L to R) Paul Waddell, Patrol 52 and Richard Camp, Volunteer Coordinator. |
 (L to R) Jack Henry Knowles (Holding Flag), Samuel James Knowles, Jonathan Craig Knowles (Joe's Son), Marlene Craig Knowles. |
 (L to R) Martha Eads, Ann Morrow Knowles, Jack Henry Knowles (Holding Flag), Samuel James Knowles, Jonathan Craig Knowles (Joe's Son), Marlene Craig Knowles. |
 (L to R) Martha Eads, USFS Paul Waddell (In Back), Ann Morrow Knowles, Jack Henry Knowles (Holding Flag), Samuel James Knowles, Jonathan Craig Knowles (Joe's Son), Marlene Craig Knowles, USFS District Ranger Dave Martin (In Back), Richard Camp (Volunteer Coordinator). |
 (L to R) Al Johnson, Kathie Silvester (In Back), Barbara Thormann, Jim Silvester (In Back), Don Cohn, Richard Camp (Volunteer Coordinator), Alice Ketman, Jeff May |
 Joe Knowles Memorial Tower Plaque |
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News Releases |
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Line-of-Duty Lookout Tragedies Volunteer Lookout Found Dead Joe Knowles, Sierra NF, California |
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Josiah Knowles, Jr. was a lookout volunteer with the Sierra National Forest Detection Program at Miami Lookout on the Bass Lake Ranger District. On October 26, 2006, Joe left his residence to work at Miami Lookout at 8:00 a.m.. At 8:55 he went in service at the lookout and went out of service with Sierra Dispatch at 5:56 p.m.. When he had not yet returned home after 8:00 p.m., Volunteer Coordinator Rich Camp was called. Rich and his partner drove up to Miami Lookout very slowly and looked over the road edge the whole way up to make sure Joe had not driven off the edge. Upon arrival at the lookout, Knowles was noticed near the base of the tower next to his vehicle, slumped over onto the rear drivers side tire. He had sustained severe head trauma and was deceased. Joe was alone at the time; it is known that there was a fall that involved a head injury, but the cause of the fall has not been determined. An agency investigation is under way. It was finally determined that Joe had suffered a heart attack while leaving the tower. Joe was from Ahwahnee and was one of 25 volunteers with the fire detection program. He was known by his very distinct voice - when he had a smoke report you knew he had a smoke. He worked for ten years as a volunteer at Miami, Deadwood and Shuteye Lookouts and was a member of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. He had also volunteered the visitors center in Oakhurst and was a member of the Ham Radio club. In his 70's, Joe is survived by his two sons, Jon and Nick, and his daughter, Jenny. 
Miami Lookout is located on the Mariposa, Madera County line, one mile west of California State Highway 49 in the foothills of the west-central Sierra Nevada Mountains. At an elevation of 4,327 feet, it overlooks the towns of Oakhurst, Ahwahnee, Nipinnawasee, Coarsegold, Raymond and Baily Flats in Madera County, and Ponderosa Basin, Usona, Bootjack, Lush Meadows, Mariposa, and Oakgrove in Mariposa County, the southwestern peaks of Yosenite National Park, and the northwestern peaks of the Sierra National Forest. Miami has been staffed by volunteers since 1995, when cutbacks forced the discontinuance of pain staffing. The volunteers work in cooperation with the Sierra NF and the CDF, and are responsible for watching an area of about 150 square miles. The lookout is staffed during the fire season beginning about May 15th of each year until October or November when enough precipitation has fallen to end the fire system. Miami Lookout was originally built in 1934. The lookout is a 20-foot "H-hraced" steel non-battered tower with I-beam corner posts. A top the tower is a C-3 14 x 14 foot wooden hip-roofed cab with the door in the center of wall, with 2-pane windows, and originally had shutter outriggers on top. |
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1995 Miami Mountain Volunteer Fire Lookouts The current U.S.A. Pacific Coast Time is: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Camp said he was good friends with Knowles for several years. "He was very helpful in putting our web cam and security systems into operation at the tower back in August of 2003," he said. "Our group has been staffing the lookout for the last ten years on a volunteer basis for the Forest Service."
