Fire Tower
The road leading to the fire tower is narrow and very sandy. Impassable by automobile, it is even too much for a horse drawn wagon. Horseback or on foot are the best ways to handle the narrow, sandy road that climbs to the summit of the hill and the tower atop it.
Forty feet high and built almost entirely of galvanized steel, the tower was paid for with a state grant a local congressman won for the struggling community a dozen years ago. Included in the grant is the watchman’s salary, paid six months of the year, during the fire season. Since the death of the last watchman, Elias Whipple, the town has gone without a fire watch and diverted the state money into the town treasury. A wooden sign, once mounted on the tower, lies face down on the ground. Flipped over, it reads: “Keep Off—Authorized Personnel Only”.
A simple ladder mounted on one of the tower’s legs leads to the top and the cupola that shelters the watchman. The cupola is surrounded by a narrow catwalk with a safety rail, the ladder reaching the catwalk through an opening in the walk itself.
Emerging through the opening at the top and gaining the catwalk, one enjoys a commanding view of the area, including the town and distant farms to the south and the northern farms to the west. A large, hand–cranked siren is mounted on the catwalk rail near the ladde and faces south toward town. Its wail can be heard for miles, and it has been used a couple times by pranksters to set the town in a panic. The door to the cupola is nearby, tightly closed. The windows are so grimy it’s impossible to see inside the small watchman’s shelter. The door is unlocked.
Type
Tower
Parent Location
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