Fire Alarm Street boxes

[x129K 1,393]

Are Newburgh's boxes still in service. I went through there recently and noticied them

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Photo of my Depts old IH alarm repair truck in front of the alarm building.

1972 Ford replaced the IH

Edited October 15, 2012 by spin_the_wheel

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Sharp eyes notice this stuff....old paint still marks many poles in my district where fire boxes used to be.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Hey Cogs, Billy and Fred still maintain Ansonia's but it sounds like eventually the system will become silent. With only the diaphone above Farrels and the siren at Co. 5 (when it works) it becoming harder to hear it and find parts. Even though they finally got a digitizer a couple years back.

(*)

[Newburgher 241]

Are Newburgh's boxes still in service. I went through there recently and noticied them

Yup. Still in service, and we still get legitimate calls off of them, not just false alarms. Master boxes are still in all the schools and several factories and high hazard occupancies as well

[x129K 1,393]

Awesome. I miss the system here in Poughkeepsie.

Got the PM too - thanks,.

[JBE 328]

Ahh the Diaphone. Sounds like a cow being butchered. I don't know of any departments around me that still have them. Point Pleasant Beach still has one, as does Manasquan, IIRR.

[RWC130 594]

Those who have an interest in Gamewell Fire Alarm Boxes or Alarm Systems

my Gamewell Fire Alarm Box Facebook group members have been invited to tour the

Gamewell-FCI/Honeywell plant in CT on Friday November 16th at 10am.

This is the location of Masterbox Assembly and Alarm Systems.

I am offering this to any of our EMTBravo members who would like to attend.

Lunch will be served.

You must contact me DIRECTLY by November 9th

RWC130@aol.com with "Gamewell" in the subject line.

[FFPCogs 863]

Hey Cogs, Billy and Fred still maintain Ansonia's but it sounds like eventually the system will become silent. With only the diaphone above Farrels and the siren at Co. 5 (when it works) it becoming harder to hear it and find parts. Even though they finally got a digitizer a couple years back.

(*)

Glad to hear they're still at it, they do a great job. Of course I'm sorry to hear that the system is slowly fading away, but I guess that's "progress".

Even in 2012 the relatively few systems still operating DO serve a purpose. I stopped by HQ in Everett and got talking with the guys...they still get jobs reported through the street boxes every so often, so at least there they prove their worth.

[27east 19]

Hartsdale still has an active box system maintained by electricans or FFs?

Edited October 16, 2012 by 27east

[gamewell45 258]

Here is a YouTube Video of a Gamewell Diaphone Horn.

Turn the sound up nice and LOUD lol.

Long before our cool Portables, Pagers, IPage, CAD, Scanner Phone Apps, Etc the horns

would blow the rounds of the box that was pulled or a company call.

One great thing about this was NO DELAY! The minute the box was pulled the horns

would start blasting the box location.

I remember as a kid being at the Firehouse when a "General Alarm" as we called it

would come in. The truck would be out the door before radio dispatch or during it.

Peekskill FD and Ossining FD had Diaphone Horns. Anyone else?

Awesome video. I think North Tarrytown used to have one as did Chappaqua on both their stations.

[SteveOFD 176]

Ossining's horns are still active. The DTMF tones after our paging tones designate the "box" signal that is tapped out.

On clear summer nights I can hear the horn from the Grasslands Reservation in Valhalla, when they tap out.

[peterose313 345]

Ossining's horns are still active. The DTMF tones after our paging tones designate the "box" signal that is tapped out.

On clear summer nights I can hear the horn from the Grasslands Reservation in Valhalla, when they tap out.

I'm in a valley and if the wind blows in the right direction, I can hear Briarcliff's tones go off.

[gamewell45 258]

Pleasantville still has a set of fire horns on Fire Headquarters that are in service; when they cut the gamewell system back in the early 90's, the fire horns at Hays Hose were removed from service, tho' the the four trumpets are still located atop the fire station.

[wraftery 1,275]

Hartsdale has two FF's who maintain the system for a stipend, They are called Alarm Superintendent, and Asst.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

The repair crew must love doing work to this Diaphone!

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Greetings all...like to check in on this thread from time to time. Any changes the last year or so? Ossining still using the air horn for alarms? Hartsdale still have a street box system in place?

[SteveOFD 176]

Greetings all...like to check in on this thread from time to time. Any changes the last year or so? Ossining still using the air horn for alarms? Hartsdale still have a street box system in place?

Ossining - yes

[Fireman488 57]

I came across a listing of horn codes for Tarrytown FD. Question... were these locations former street box locations, or are they just intersection codes. Does Tarrytown still use these signals?

Also saw an "all clear" code..what was that used for? Was that a "throw back" from the civil defense siren days for an air raid siren test with an all clear?

While no longer having actual pull boxes, Tarrytown and Elmsford still use audible signal codes (box numbers) for intersections and some specific locations like schools, hotels, etc.

Elmsford does have two working pull boxes, one on each of our two firehouses.

One audible round of 3 indicates that the call is complete and units are back in service.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

While no longer having actual pull boxes, Tarrytown and Elmsford still use audible signal codes (box numbers) for intersections and some specific locations like schools, hotels, etc.

Elmsford does have two working pull boxes, one on each of our two firehouses.

One audible round of 3 indicates that the call is complete and units are back in service.

Who activates the "under control 3" 60-control? Tarrytown and Elmsford use this code for under control?

[Fireman488 57]

Who activates the "under control 3" 60-control? Tarrytown and Elmsford use this code for under control?

Elmsford PD is our primary dispatch. 60-Control is our secondary dispatch.

The PD desk officer sounds the recall "3" which really isn't used as often as it was in the past.

Recall "3" on the horn indicates that the incident is complete and all units are back in service.

Obviously a throw back to the pre-radio days. The chief could open a box and use the morse key to sound it.

Tarrytown did operate in the same manner. I'm not sure if they still do.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

Elmsford PD is our primary dispatch. 60-Control is our secondary dispatch.

The PD desk officer sounds the recall "3" which really isn't used as often as it was in the past.

Recall "3" on the horn indicates that the incident is complete and all units are back in service.

Obviously a throw back to the pre-radio days. The chief could open a box and use the morse key to sound it.

Tarrytown did operate in the same manner. I'm not sure if they still do.

Interesting that is a throw back. Its hard enough to get the public to understand the audibles for an emergency in this day and age, try explainig why the all clear horn has to be sounded.

My dept. had one diaphone and 15 sirens around the district in the 'day" Most were 2 1/2 and 1 horse power federals. There is only one pole mounted street siren left....it does not work but its still on the pole. They stopped using audibles about 1983. The Gamewell boxes were pulled in 1986. AAhhh the days of counting the horn codes on a box call and riding my bicycle to the box location.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

I was in Hartsdale the other day on Central Ave and saw the street boxes still standing guard.

Does Hartsdale have them in the back streets as well or only on the main streets of the district?

Thanks be safe and keep em' rolling.

[RWC130 594]

[kinkchaser 352]

Chief Raftery, you failed to mention the horses started to come out of their stalls after the first didgit

[Avon Rob 40]

Syd,

Tarrytown stopped using the "3", all clear while you were still a patrolman. Some say that the members complained due to the fact that a wife would know when her husband SHOULD be back at home.

[kinkchaser 352]

Some of the boxes had a telegraph key inside that you could send back signals to the dispatcher as to the disposition of the alarm and request additional units, this handy before apparatus radio. If you had a fire and things were not going well, the chief would tap out a request for a second on the telegraph key.(Front of the box opened to rewind and reset and access to the key if so equipped)

Also, some places had a hard card inside telling what units were assigned to this box all the way up to the fifth alarm..

[wraftery 1,275]

Chief Raftery, you failed to mention the horses started to come out of their stalls after the first didgit

I am pretty allergic to horses, so I was never able to hang out with them. You were there when they had boxes. If it stated with a 3 it was up da west. I bet you knew by the first digit whether you were going or not,

I also knew it was a "biggie" if New Ro's whistles started blowing. In fact for Hubbel's Lumber yard, they must have blown for the better part of a night. I was just a kid for that!

[wraftery 1,275]

I can't give you a horse story, but I know a good Dalmatian one:

I was at a seminar and the Speaker was explaining complete with slides, that the reason for FDs having Dalmatians was because they would run ahead of the horse team. As a result, the horse team would kind of chase the Dalmatian.

The horses would then run faster and the fire engine would get to the fire sooner. Afterward he said "Any questions?"

I put up my hand and said "Wouldn't that mean that the dog would have to know where the fire is?"