The National Parks and Wildlife Service crew who staff the tower during the Ash Wednesday fires on 16 February 1983 later recalled the ferocity with which the fire came tearing up through Cleland Conservation Park towards them. The main fire that day started at nearby Mount Osmond and reached the summit of Mount Lofty well within an hour (a typical bushfire would take several hours to cover this same distance).
The National Parks and Wildlife Service personnel who were stationed at the tower during the Ash Wednesday fires on February 16, 1983, recalled the rapid and intense spread of the fire as it moved towards them from Cleland Conservation Park. The main fire that day started at Mount Osmond and reached the summit of Mount Lofty within an hour (a typical bushfire would take several hours to travel this distance).