Fire Tower Review

The Bellingham Arboretum is a place many and almost all come across at some point in their time in Bellingham. A large preserved area of wildlife and forest, the Arboretum, or Arb for short, spans 180 acres of land forming from the same plate tectonics which created Mt. Baker (Henry). Firstly a mining area from the 1880’s to the 1900’s, around 1915 the “Normal School” presently known as Western Washington University, purchased the land known then as Sehome park (Sehome). Now known as The Arboretum, WWU gained control over the land and its resources for educational and public use. Since then the Arb has been home to research, student and civil exploration, and many more activities. The Arboretum was later established in 1960 and features such as the hand carved tunnel and Fire Tower procured into the hillside, thus creating the breathtaking beauty that is the Bellingham Arboretum today.

As a first year student of Western, I have found reconciliation within the Arb, specifically at and around the 3 story, 100 foot tall Fire Tower.

Some may see the tower as a focal point in a daily journey, a place for mental clarity, or a destination for hanging out with friends. Exploring the area of the Fire Tower I notice folks usually come here either on a run or jog, or together in small groups of people. After talking to a few individuals, it seems the general provision from the Fire Tower is the view, those who trek to the tower feed off of its extraordinary scenery of the San Juan and Vancouver Islands (EastKing). At the top level, one can observe a gorgeous scene of Bellingham, the Bellingham bay, and mountains off into the distance.

When entering the Arb in any direction, one can begin to notice white noise of the common world fade away as the whispers of the forest surround them. They take a deep breath and notice the cleanliness of the air, and the freeing notion of completeness with nature. The Fire Tower serves as a central social feature of the Arb along with a few others, however you notice on the night of last year’s red moon for example, hundreds of people gathered within this small location to gaze. While on other days you might walk up to the Fire Tower and notice only a few people collected together on it, although it is rare to find no one near or on the tower. I believe that the tower does serve an important social feature for students and Bellingham citizens alike, it allows for people to get out and exercise, socialize with their peers, or escape from everyday stresses.

However, there are some dreary features of the fire towers ergonomics as well, one being the distance of travel by foot to reach the tower. Some may see the distance as a hurdle not worth pursuing while others are illustrative to adventure there, in this way the fire tower may suffer some social popularity. In another sense, the tower is not always the best destination, due to Washington’s consistent winter weather patterns the trails turn to mud easily, and can transform a day activity of joy into a day of laundry. However, majority of the year the paths are clear and maintained enough to travel on, without fear of getting dirty or ruining your Birkenstock’s.

Overall, the Arb has served and continues to serve as an engraved feature in the history of Bellingham, its students and citizens. The Fire tower has provided a social outing for students and citizens since the early 1900’s. Although it’s not your common downtown bar, or local pub, the Arb works in similar ways. It allows people from different locations to bask in its beauty, it offers a break from the daily stresses of the world for a short amount of time, it bestows the canvas to the artist who recognizes its delicacy, and furnishes research for those who seek its enriched knowledge.

Works Cited

Sehome Hill Arboretum. wwu.edu/share. WWU Geology Department/ Geology 497. N.P. The Human History of Sehome Hill. Web. N.D.

Henry, Olivia. “A Tour through Western’s Arboretum”. The Western Front. 5, October. 2012. Web. 3, March. 2016.

EastKing. “Sehome Hill”. SummitPost.org. 9, October, 2015. Web. 3, March. 2016.