Tower elements introduced into a fire station have several referential meanings. One is an homage to the hose drying towers of traditional fire stations, an activity that has been rendered obsolete with the change from cotton hose to synthetic hose. Towers at fire stations also serve as a symbolic civic gesture for a local community.
Towers often mark the public entry into a fire station and others are developed from the stair towers, a gesture towards the response readiness of a fire station. Additional elements are often incorporated into the towers of new fire stations including clocks and art installations, preferably both…gestures that describe the contribution that a fire station makes to it’s surrounding community “around the clock”.