The Mount Lofty Fire Tower sits on top of Mount Lofty (34°58′28″S 138°42′32″E / 34.97444°S 138.70889°E / -34.97444; 138.70889Coordinates: 34°58′28″S 138°42′32″E / 34.97444°S 138.70889°E / -34.97444; 138.70889) in the Adelaide Hills just to the east of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The 34m high tower has a commanding view over a huge area of the rural areas surrounding Adelaide, and on a clear day the view can extend to as far as Kangaroo Island to the southwest, Monarto to the east, the Fleurieu Peninsula to the south, and the grassy plains beyond Two Wells to the north. The tower is used to spot fires in the Adelaide Hills and surrounds on days of very high or extreme fire danger during summer. The spotting crew determine the location of a smoke sighting by taking a bearing and then calculating distance using topographic maps. Details of the sighting are then passed to the Country Fire Service Regional Office in Mount Barker who despatch the nearest fire brigade.
Read more about Mount Lofty Fire Tower: History, Ash Wednesday, February 1983, Australia Live Broadcast, Tower Safety Concerns
Famous quotes containing the words mount, lofty, fire and/or tower:
“... women are more quiet. They don’t feel called to mount a barrel and harangue by the hour every time they imagine they have produced an idea.”
—Anna Julia Cooper (1859–1964)
“What is genius?—To will both a lofty goal and the means to achieving it.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“You are no surer, no,
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice,
Or hailstone in the sun.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“All over France, in every city there stand cathedrals like this one, triumphant monuments of the past. They tower over the homes of our people like mighty guardians, keeping alive the invincible faith of the Christian. Every arch, every column, every statue is a carved leaf out of our history, a book in stone, glorifying the spirit of France.”
—Sonya Levien (1895–1960)