MT. PILOT

mtpilot2016flo-recognition

	Lat / Long GDA	-36.251474, 146.670210
	Department	FCV...etc...DEECA
	Work Depot	Beechworth
	Region	North East
	Grading	Primary
	Elevation (ASL)	545m
	Height	4m
	Construction	Steel
	Cabin size	2.1m x 2.1m
	Public access to site	Yes
	In use since	19?? - 1961 (original) 1961 - 2015
	CFA Region	23 - North Eastern

Photo (2002) supplied by Paul Jones

The following details were supplied by Gordon Habeck, a long time towerman at Mt. Pilot.
Mt. Pilot stands on a rocky outcrop in the Chiltern-Mt. Pilot National Park. It protects a Box-Ironbark forest. The original tower was a wooden structure, it's believed to be destroyed by lightning, details are unknown yet. The steel structure was put up in 1961 with a corrugated-iron cabin. This cabin was replaced in 1995 with the cabin from Mt. Stanley after that tower was replaced.
The area was severly burnt in 2003 but the tower survived.

Please click on thumbnails for enlargements


Mt. Pilot in 2009 Supplied by Andre Belterman	At the bottom of the tower Supplied by Andre Belterman

Mt. Pilot was taken out of service in 2015 due to problems with the lightning protection system. Specialist works were undertaken to improve the lightning protection system at Mt Pilot in early January 2016, however, subsequent testing then found that while the works improved protection levels, the tower did not meet the relevant Australian Standard. The tower was not staffed during the 2015-16 fire season and it was decided to replace the tower with a new tower on Mt. Barambogie, approx. 9km to the West.
For a transcript of a 2017 FFMV article "End of an era for Mt. Pilot fire tower", please click here

In Dec 2016 the Hume Region (NE) recognised a few of their FLOs for their long and dedicated service. Gordon HAbeck, the Mt. Pilot FLO, was one of them with 20 years service; well done Gordon.
A copy of the article can be found here

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