ASHFORD, Wash. — Authorities are looking for vandals who destroyed a historic fire lookout in Ashford.
Volunteers with the sand mountain society have been restoring High Rock Lookout since 2020.
“Someone violently attacked the building from the inside, smashing out a lot of windows and about 40% of the glass, which had been professionally completely restored by an expert,” Don Allen III told KIRO 7 News. He’s the President of the Board of Directors of the Sand Mountain Society.
“It’s a pretty devastating loss when you think about all that went into the restoration of those really important historic features. And now we’re basically being challenged to come up with the money, the time, everything to repair it all,” Allen shared.
Last week, volunteers found most of the windows broken, the door smashed, and their tools and supplies were thrown off the cliff.
Original ceiling materials were also broken over the rocks.
The High Rock fire lookout is federal property, managed by the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Volunteers worked through the summer and fall of 2025 to restore the historic mountaintop lookout, which offers a truly stunning view of Mt. Rainier for those willing to make the 1.6 mile hike.
Volunteers were hoping to finish the restoration by the end of August, but this will likely set them back.
“Why would somebody do this? When it’s so clear that it’s been a group effort, a volunteer effort that people are giving of their time and money to make this happen,” Tracy Croshaw with the White Pass Country Historical Society told KIRO 7 News. “It’s really hard to understand why some people would be so heartless.”
Volunteers tell KIRO 7 they’re setting up a way for people to contribute to the new restoration efforts.
The U.S. Forest Service asks anyone with tips about the vandalism to contact the Cowlitz Valley Ranger Station at 360-497-1100.
If you’d like to donate to the costs to repair the lookout, click here.
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