Although an apocryphal story claims that the tower was designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle due to Coit 's affinity with the San Francisco firefighters of the day , the resemblance is coincidental .
The tower was not designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle , despite Coit 's affinity with the San Francisco firefighters of the day , in particular with Knickerbocker Engine Company Number 5 .