Why would an Osborne Fire Finder be grounded to the lightning arrest grounds?

[u/autahciscoguy]

I visited the Ute Mountain Fire Lookout Tower today. Awesome piece of history. One thing that I noticed was that the Osborne Fire Finder was connected to the tower's lightning arrest grounds. (There's a thick bare copper wire bolted to the stand and connected to the ground cables outside of the tower.) The device isn't electrical in any way. What would the reason be to ground it?

The cable can be seen coming down the right side of the stand and across the floor.

[u/triviaqueen]

I've been struck by lightning several times while in a lookout and on many occasions lightning jumps between large metal objects, particularly the firefinder and the wood stove or the cook stove. Thus the need for grounding

[u/autahciscoguy → u/triviaqueen]

That makes sense. Thank you!

[u/seloki → u/autahciscoguy]

To elaborate more, the “grounding” of metal objects in the lookout cab is to give electricity an easier path to the ground than through the occupant. It’s why we have glass insulated stools, as glass is a very poor conductor.

All metal fixtures in the lookout are grounded. This includes the wood stove, cook stove, firefinder, even the sink.

You can find more information here

[u/autahciscoguy → u/seloki]

I noticed the glass insulators too, but didn't think anything of it. Good info. Thanks for replying!

[u/daniwelllived]

Because it's a giant hunk of metal and lightning loves metal

[u/Internal-Decimation]

On that same note, one of the very first things I did when opening my tower every season was to be sure someone didn’t steal the copper ground wire. Especially because my whole tower exterior was metal. Only the shutters and the door to the catwalk were wood.

[u/Apart-One4133]

Because... Where else would you put it ?  That's my final answer. 

[u/Internal-Decimation]

That large metal pedestal it sits on is the reason.