Following the Black Friday Bushfires in 1939, which impacted the area, a telephone was installed for the use of volunteers using the tower as an observation post for fires. Forests Commission Victoria included the tower as part of its fire-watching network and it was the command post when significant bushfires took place locally in 1962. An enclosed cabin cover was erected on the top of the tower in 1974. The advice of Mr Meldrum, the architect of the memorial was sought and he agreed that the proposed shelter could be added without aesthetic damage. On Black Saturday, 7 February 2009, fire spotters observed new fires starting and with the help of maps, binoculars and other towers in the region, they were able to determine the location of fires starting up, which were then reported to the Kilmore incident control centre. This cabin was replaced with a new tower in December 2009. Improvements included a new larger and airconditioned cabin two metres higher than the original cabin. It is fitted with new communication and mapping equipment and is built on a tilt to eliminate reflection. It is a manned incident control centre in the summer, part of the Country Fire Authority's District 13 operations.