Failure to do Maintenance=Failure to have Tower

This is a tower behind one of our FM transmitter sites.  In the past, it has housed paging and two-way services.  It has always been sort of a slum, in my opinion.  Several times, malfunctioning or improperly installed 900 MHz paging radios from this site have caused interference with our 950 MHz STL receivers.  In recent years, all those things have gone away, however, to be replaced by a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP).  Even with this change, the site is mostly overgrown and uncared for.

Yesterday, I noticed the tower was not as tall as it used to be, so I walked down the hill and saw this:

Self supporting tower after loosing top section
Self-supporting tower after losing top section

It appears this happened a few weeks ago. View from the other side:

Self supporting tower section resting on roof of building
Self-supporting tower section resting on the roof of the building

Close-up of the tower section that failed:

Failure point
Failure point

Looks like the bolts that held one of the flanges together failed, the tower was pushed over by a strong NE wind causing the other two legs to fail.  Truth be told, the tower had been in rough shape since the mid-’90s.  I am surprised that it stayed up this long.

Carnage
Carnage

WISP sector antennas. I don’t know if they owned the tower or were tenants. Either way, this is going to cost a few rubles to repair.

More carnage
More carnage

Looks like the shelter took a little bit of damage too. To be honest with you, I hope that this is it for this site. It would be nice if they take down the stump, scrap the lot of it and move it somewhere else.

Clove Mountain

We take care of a non-broadcast radio site on Clove Mountain, NY. This is a fairly prominent terrain feature and has something else interesting next to the tower site. This old fire tower:

Clove Mountain fire tower, Clove Mountain, NY
Clove Mountain fire tower, Clove Mountain, NY

That is an Aermotor LS-60 fire tower, constructed in 1932. For an eighty-year-old structure, it is a remarkably good shape. In New York State, fire towers were used for spotting up until 1990, although I believe the last season this one was used was 1988.

Clove Mountain fire tower, clove mountain, NY
Clove Mountain fire tower, clove mountain, NY

Clove mountain is about 1,400 feet above sea level and 800 to 1000 feet above the surrounding terrain. From the top, on a clear day, the view was approximately 30-45 miles depending on terrain obstacles. A forest ranger would be constantly scanning the area looking for signs of fire. If he saw something, there was a range finder that would give the range and azimuth. He would then reference a map and call the fire department responsible for that location.  The fire tower was equipped with electric and a wired telephone.

Clove Mountain view to Northwest
Clove Mountain view to Northwest

This picture was taken on a cloudy day, thus the view is somewhat restricted.

Stairs looking down
Stairs looking down

It would be nice if this were preserved and not allowed to deteriorate any further. Several of these sites have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Clove Mountain Ranger cabin
Clove Mountain Ranger cabin

Below the tower is this ranger cabin. Presumably, during the busy season, somebody stayed up here 24/7. There was electricity and a refrigerator, but no running water.  Off to the side is a bedroom.  Over the years, people have broken into the fire tower and this cabin and smashed things for no reason.  It would be nice to preserve all of this for future generations to see, but it is likely these pictures will have to do.