Fire Tower Guard's Final Report (Alberta Wildfire Creepypasta)

Alex loved the silence. Loved it. Ten summers posted up in that steel tower in the middle of nowhere Alberta, 'Devil's Perch', watching millions of hectares of forest spread out below him like a green ocean. His whole job was spotting the first wisp of smoke before anyone else. Radio was his only conversation partner. And honestly? He was fine with that. Honest silence beats human noise.

Then that summer got DRY. Dry lightning for days. Massive fire breaks out northeast, maybe 50km away. They call it the Arrowhead Fire. Big one. Alex stays calm, does his job, reports the spread. Fire's not scary to him, it's just data to analyze.

Then the smoke swallows the tower completely.

Visibility drops to like 100 meters. Everything gets muffled. Birds, wind, wolf calls, all choked out. Only the radio static connects him to anything. And then... something else starts coming through the static. Whispers. Multiple voices, some language he can't understand, mixed into the noise. He figures it's interference. Happens all the time with big fires.

But it gets WEIRD. One night he hears this slow, warped lullaby melody through the static. Like someone playing an old music box at half speed. The sound is coming from inside the burning forest. He radios the main station: "Hey, you getting this weird signal?" "Nope, probably your equipment. Check the system." Cool cool cool.

Then the thing starts imitating other fire watchers' voices. Fake call signs, fake voices requesting rescue. Then it imitates HIS voice reporting that everything's normal.

Then he looks through the binoculars at the fire line.

And he sees PEOPLE. Tall. Impossibly thin. Standing in the flames. Not burning. Just... standing there between the burning trees like they BELONG there, all silhouettes facing his tower. He's freaking out, radios it in: "Multiple unidentified personnel at the fire line! They're not survivors!" Station tells him it's just 'Fire Wraith' — optical illusion from smoke and heat. Says he's inhaled too much smoke.

He knows what he saw.

Fire gets closer. Station orders evacuation. Helicopter coming in 30 minutes. He starts grabbing his emergency pack.

Then his radio plays his dead wife's voice.

She's been dead for three years (car accident). She's singing their song. The one only they knew. The whispers outside his window are now DOZENS of voices singing in unison. He looks down from the window.

The black figures aren't in the fire anymore.

They're directly below his tower. Dozens of them. Looking up at him with black eyes. Waiting.

The helicopter pilot's voice cuts through: "Alex! Five minutes out! I can see the tower but... who are all those people with you?!"

[Official Alberta Wildfire Management Report]

Veteran fire watcher Alex McGregor went missing during Arrowhead Fire suppression. Tower 'Devil's Perch' found empty and intact. Presumed he fled on foot and got caught in the flames. Helicopter pilot reported seeing 'multiple unidentified personnel' near tower before radio went dead, but this is attributed to extreme stress and hallucination.

[ONE YEAR LATER — Rebuilt Tower 'Devil's Perch 2']

New young watcher, bored, messing with the radio on a quiet night. He adjusts the frequency dial. Radio static... and faint singing. Old lullaby. He frowns, turns the dial more.

Then a voice cuts clear through. Calm. Professional. Experienced.

"Weather clear. Visibility... zero. Today's smoke is beautiful. They're singing again. Nothing to report."