The 53′ steel tower on Wellpinit Mountain was built in 1964 and replaced the Spokane Mountain fire lookout just four miles to the north. The old historic D-6 at Spokane Mountain burned during the 64,000 acre Carpenter Road Fire in 2015, started by an arsonist.

The lookout at Wellpinit was originally planned for Spokane Butte but the Colville suggested that Wellpinit would have wider views of the Spokane Reservation as well as electrical service.

In 2010, the lookout at Wellpinit called in the Line Fire and in 2021, the Sherwood Fire, started on July 21st from a lightning storm, came within only a mile or two of the lookout.