Street Fire Alarm Boxes.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

I am not sure if this topic has been covered before........How many Westchester Departments still use Gamewell Street Alarm Boxes or a similar system? Also which Departments used to have them...street boxes are very rare in this day and age and I bet many of the Jr. Firefighters have never seen one in person.

[GFD70 4]

Hartsdale still has some

[CAM502 6]

The city of Mt Vernon was known for years to have a very extensive Gamewell system in place. Over the past years the boxes have been phased out with only one or two still in service. Just a personal opinion, but boxes aren't really needed any more because everyone carries a cell phone.

Edited September 9, 2005 by CAM502

[JBE 328]

The city of Mt Vernon was known for years to have a very extensive Gamewell system in place.  Over the past years the boxes have been phased out with only one or two still in service.  Just a personal opinion, but boxes aren't really needed any more because everyone carries a cell phone.

Not entirely true. Especially when you have the aforementioned people on cell phones who have no idea where they are. Then you have the people out there who don't have the luxury of ANY kind of phone. Throw in the hearing and speech impaired, etc. Removing boxes, to an extent, puts the public at risk. But that's another story for another time.

[roeems87 0]

I actually think they are an awesome idea to alert to emergencies. I'm also a big believer in those phone boxes that are set up along county highways (some of them). People have no idea where they are sometimes when they are calling for help (for themselves or someone else). Having a fixed location where they are calling from (even if they can say, I passed a car accident about a half mile south of this phone) will help rescuers immensely. Having emergencies phones in areas and pull boxes for FD or EMS emergencies is a very useful tool.

Calling on cell phones can cause some delays as well. I know they are minimal, but the 3 minutes it takes for the whole call transfer (never mind how long it takes to get FDs rolling or truly ascertain the exact location of the emergency) could mean the different between life, death, and property destruction. It's certainly an asset... I wish there were more of them around...

[Firefighter57 0]

out side of NY, i know ALOT of towns small and big in NH use boxes. Kind of odd to go to the firehouse and see a tanker and then walk down the street and see a box because normaly when i think box, i think city but i know for a fact that concord, conway north and south, Meredith, and Wolfeboro all have boxs in their towns. reason why i bring this up is to say that they are still used, just not as much around here.

[CAM502 6]

Ok let me clarify...

I think the old gamewell boxes where you pull a handle and thats it are not good. They produce more false alarms than they are worth. The Two -way style boxes are great. They afford an oppertunity to gather more info and dispatch the proper response. And to say "what about people that have no phone"... come on man if you don't have one (and u would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't seeing as how all you hear is bleep bleep and ring ring if you walk around the streets) i'm sure one of your 100 neighbors has one and will call in the fire. Today's technology doesn't warrent a box system. Only in a city like NYC that has the resources to maintain the system and it doesn't matter if you have an assingment out on a false box because there are always more companies to draw from. If you don't know where you are....well thats another argument.

Edited September 9, 2005 by CAM502

[JBE 328]

I presume you haven't seen some places where these boxes are. I have seen on numerous occasions where the pull style only box was the only reporting source on a number of incidents. Then you get the people who just press the two way boxes and walk away thinking that's it. That's another story. As for people not knowing where they are, how about not even knowing their home address??

In a situation like the blackout a few years ago, one of the only things that worked when the phones didn't, were the boxes.

[x635 4,066]

On the West Coast, CHP has call boxes at certain intervals on their freeways. Since the freeways out there are so massive and can be confusing, even to those who travel it everyday, the call box locations are a common way to locate a caller and dispatch a call.

The box system definetly has some pros in some communites, as it does its drawbacks (dangers from false alarms, I believe this was a huge issue, and a FF was even killed because of it in the '70's).

Another aspect of this issue is a great backup system. In the event that the cellular network, telephone network, 911 etc goes down, this system provides an effective means to report emergencies.

When NYC was considering removing these several years ago, there was quite a hot debate.

As far as them being popular in New England, they still are. FD's have employees dedicated to this, in their "Fire Alarm" division. Additionally, many MA dept's call their dispatch "Fire Alarm" because of this system.

And in regards to Fire Alarm in the WC, Hartsdale still has a Fire Alarm Truck for maintainence of the fire alarm boxes. There are still a couple in the older neighborhoods by my house. I remember as a kid visiting the fire station, and seeing the tickertape these alarms came in one. It was one of the neat things I always remembered, how this system worked. I also remember a firefighter telling me that public buildings and other facilities were also tied into this system.

Here is a photo of Hartsdale FD's Fire Alarm Maintainence Truck. I love this truck! (Photo by x635):

Edited September 10, 2005 by x635

[Guest]

The Yonkers FD used to have Fire Boxes.

They were taken out of service in 1980. Due to the $$$ to upgrade/maintain the system and the amount of False Alarms from them.

As a matter of fact. There is a Fire Alarm Box database that was recently put together by an Asst. Chief and Capt. on the YFD.

The database is pretty in depth and can be searched by the user. The database can be searched a number of ways. By box number, street name, cross street name, box range, and business or company name.

When searching it. It will give you all the information for a box or boxes including the alarm assignments for it (1st thru 5th Alarm) and the fire company numbers indicated are the old YFD desigination numbers of their companies (E1, E2 or T1 or T2 etc.) prior the switch to the current county number desiginations (300 series for engines and 70 series for trucks).

I believe it might span a good 30-40 years of info and updates up to 1980. It had to take sometime to compile and do it, but it is like going back in time when looking at it. Too bad it isn't available on the YFD website for people to see and use it.

[CAM502 6]

I presume you haven't seen some places where these boxes are. I have seen on numerous occasions where the pull style only box was the only reporting source on a number of incidents. Then you get the people who just press the two way boxes and walk away thinking that's it. That's another story. As for people not knowing where they are, how about not even knowing their home address??

In a situation like the blackout a few years ago, one of the only things that worked when the phones didn't, were the boxes.

You presume wrong... As said before they may work for you in the city but it's all about resources( Cash and Rigs). You got them and we don't. As for not knowing where you are...what do you want me to say the world is full of morons.

Edited September 10, 2005 by CAM502

[JBE 328]

I wasn't going to say it, but thank you, you are correct.

[Remember585 815]

We had 'em.

When it came to be more of a nuisance in service, false alarms, costs, etc. we yanked those puppies out.

[Guest]

mamaroneck used to have them and you used to have to test one every saturday at noon time but we got rid of them

[x129K 1,393]

Just a personal opinion, but boxes aren't really needed any more because everyone carries a cell phone

My city, which still has many boxes in service, has a large hispanic community. They do not carry cells, and if they do, we can't understand what they say when they call!

Sure we go to LOTS of 10-92's, and in my 4 years here, only 3 have been workers, but they add character to a city, alot of tradition in that metal box!

Unfortunatly, our system takes a beating with every storm, and is being phased out. It seems like each good storm we have, we lose another circuit! The cards are so expensive to replace as well.

[JohnnyOV 2]

lol sorry to "hijack the topic" but another resons 10-codes need to be delt with.

Whats a 10-92?

[JBE 328]

10-92=FDNYSpeak for False Alarm.