DUAL-PURPOSE TOWER

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29909, 24 August 1962, Page 7

DUAL-PURPOSE TOWER

An interesting new feature of the headquarters fire station is the tower which is used for drill and for toe drying of hoses.

Rising to five floors, the tower is divided perpendicularly into two sections.

In the front the tower has five windows and inside concrete floors with openings in one corner to allow descending and ascending ladders. The main approach to the tower for drill purposes is on the outside, by ladders and hook ladders.

The sills have been made of Australian hardwood with toe facings to take the wear caused by continual use of hook ladders, the hook and bill of which have saw-tooth edges which bite into wood.

The tower is also fitted with an internal four-inch dry riser and on each floor leads of hose can be taken off, similar to the procedure in a number of buildings around the city.

The rear section of the tower is used for drying hoses. It is fitted with an electric winch for hoisting four sets of cables, each cable having a yoke over which four lengths of wet hose can be hung up to dry. A heater with air fans is fitted at the base and a vent at the top allows free circulation of the air.

No matter what the weather, hose can now be dried out completely in one day. In the old station where hose was hung in the open it was sometimes out for a week or more before it could be dried.

The new system wiM allow the brigade to carry smaller stocks of hose, keeping them in circulation as they come off the drying tower and are repaired.