Fire lookout tower and former fire station. An alarm bell (半鐘 Hanshō?) on top. During the Edo period in Japan fire lookout towers (火の見櫓 Hinomi-yagura?) housed the the fire fighting team of town (町火消 Machi-bi-keshi?). Usually the fire lookout tower was built near a fire station (番屋 Ban-ya?), and was equipped with a ladder, lookout platform, and an alarm bell (半鐘 Hanshō?). From these towers watchmen could observe the entire town, and in the event of a fire they would ring the alarm bell, calling up firemen and warning town residents. In some towns the bells were also used to mark the time. While the fire lookout towers remained fully equipped into the Showa period, they were later replaced by telephone and radio broadcasting systems in many cities. (3) Canada: Like the United States, fire towers were built across Canada to protect the valuable trees for the forestry industry. Most towers were built in the early 1920s to 1950s and were a mix of wood and steel structures. A total of 156 towers span the province of Ontario, but a handful of towers remain in use after the 1970s,. They are still in use in British Columbia, Alberta and the Maritime Provinces