Why San Francisco still counts on street fire alarm boxes

[bad box 371]

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Every year, San Francisco firefighters respond to emergency calls from a street alarm box system that was in use when horses still pulled the engines. There's almost no part of the city that's more than two blocks away from one of the 2,040 antique red iron boxes that use telegraph technology, and almost all carrying the name of the city's defunct Department of Electricity. And in an age when cell phones and instant communications have spelled doom for the boxes in other major cities, San Francisco is happy with its link to the past.

"The perception is that the system is old and antiquated, but it's proven itself to be an important part of the redundancy that's built into our system," said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.

New York, which still has about 15,000 active call boxes, found out the need during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when cell phone lines were instantly overloaded, crashing the network along much of the East Coast.

San Francisco had its own communications disaster when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit in 1989, destroying cell towers and cutting power to parts of the city.

"The system works when others don't," said Jack Donohoe, public safety wire manager for the city's Department of Technology, which keeps both the fire boxes and the smaller police box system running. "When the earthquake hit, some of the boxes in the Marina were tilted like modern art, but the system worked perfectly."

The system cost about $3 million a year to maintain a few years ago, Donohoe said, but the costs have likely fallen since the same crews now also work on the city's fiber-optic network.

It's that simple

One advantage is the system's simplicity, Donohoe said.

When someone pulls the alarm, a telegraph wheel taps out a message to the nearest fire station, announcing the box number.

"The call comes straight to us, without having to go through the dispatcher, like a 911 call does," said fire Lt. Karen Kerr.

While the boxes don't provide an exact address, they avoid the communication problems that language difficulties and the chaos surrounding an emergency can bring.

"It's a universal tool that everyone recognizes and anyone can use - young, old, English-speaking or not," said Hayes-White.

That doesn't mean there aren't problems.

[FFPCogs 863]

Technology and "progress" are great and unavoidable but as I've often said newer is not always better. The Gamewell systems many of us are familiar with were (are for those fortunate enough to still have them), simple to use, simple to maintain and above all reliable. It's a shame they have become extinct in most areas.

Cogs

[antiquefirelt 994]

Not sure how the wire runs in SF, but I can say that our above ground on the pole fire alarm wire was a nightmare to maintain. I'd think many places where the costs and troubles are low the wire is predominantly below ground. Salt air plays hell with the outer sheath, Aerial Terminal Boxes and any "exposed" connection. In our case (all above ground) it was good riddance.

[x129K 1,393]

You guys oughta see the Gamewll system member here on Bravo; Paulbalentine has in his HOUSE...nothing short of awesome.

I still maintain to this day, several years after the Gamewll system was removed from here in Poughkeepsie, that the need is still here.

[wraftery 1,275]

Not sure how the wire runs in SF, but I can say that our above ground on the pole fire alarm wire was a nightmare to maintain. I'd think many places where the costs and troubles are low the wire is predominantly below ground. Salt air plays hell with the outer sheath, Aerial Terminal Boxes and any "exposed" connection. In our case (all above ground) it was good riddance.

Were the wire runs single wires or two wires above the box on the pole. Most commonly found are two wires which is actually the wrong way to install Gamewell systems. The three-fold boxes are designed to work on a single wire loop. If a wire breaks, the system will transmit thru ground. Not so tith two wires, a tree that comes down will break both wires and the system is OOS.