Hall of Flame
Museum of
Firefighting
Fire Alarm Systems
 | There are four displays of fire alarm systems.
They are:
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A 1925 Gamewell semi-automatic system from
Glendale, California, dating from about 1925. The operating system
includes a non-interfering street box (below), a control panel, a circuit testing and
protection board, a gong, and a series of repeaters using punch tape.
Together with this system is a gong and repeater of the variety found in
fire houses to receive signals from a central station (below left). |
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| Each fire station had a gong and tape
repeater in an area manned by a fireman on "house watch".
Alarms sent from the central station sounded the gong and punched out the
box number. Box 13, for example, would be punched out with one hole,
a space, then three more. Both gong and tape repeater in this
exhibit were made by Gamewell. |
Alarms began at the street box like the
one above. This box, made by Gamewell, was used in downtown
Prescott, Arizona for over 60 years. |
| A 1906 Gamewell automatic system from a small town
in Wisconsin. It includes a sector style box, an automatic style
repeater that transmits box alarms to all fire houses on a system, a
combination gong and indicator, a battery control panel, and a panel that
allows the sending of signals from "ghost boxes" to fire stations
throughout a city. This system is fully functional |
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A 1950s-1970s era telephone based alarm system
custom built by the Phoenix, Arizona Fire Department. This
innovative system includes a switchboard, a control panel for over 100
Gamewell boxes. two microfiche map readers, two dispatching consoles,
several radios, time stamps, a tape recording system, and a large
illuminated status map board that shows which stations are either on a run,
out of service, or available. The system does not operate, but has
been equipped with lights to allow its interpretation by visitors. |
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An operating 1980s era Protectowire operating fire
alarm exhibit. Protectowire systems protect large schools, bridges,
materials handling plants, power plants, and other organizations with
large expanses of vulnerable materials, often in a hostile
environment. Protectowire cables are strung over thousands of
feet. When a fire activates a portion of the cable, it signals a
control console which registers which cable is in alarm and the distance
in feet from the console. Firefighters can then be dispatched to the
fire. Our exhibit was donated and installed by Protectowire.
Visitors can operate it to see how its works. |
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Objects Page|
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