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Though fire alarm boxes remain in use, many communities have removed them, relying instead on the widespread availability of landline and cellular telephones. Cities like San
Francisco still rely heavily on fire alarm boxes for redundancy in case of emergency. Some municipalities still maintain their
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of a fire or a fire alarm activation. Typically installed on street corners or on the outside of commercial buildings in urban areas, they were the main means of summoning firefighters before the general availability of telephones. Fire Alarm Call Boxes are still widely used in many cities and towns.
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The simplicity of telegraph alarm boxes and their associated networks means that they are able to operate under conditions (such as a lengthy or widespread power outage, a natural disaster, or any emergency causing many people to attempt to contact others simultaneously) which may disrupt or disable
170:, and the box number is matched to a list of box locations. In modern installations a computer receives and translates the pulses; in unmanned installations in small communities, the box number may be sounded out by a horn or bell audible community-wide. Some call boxes can be wired to a
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or annunciator to send a signal to a fire station or dispatch center when a fire alarm is activated in a particular building. Telegraph systems do not give any information about why an alarm was triggered, only the box number which tells firefighters where to respond.
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When the box is activated by turning a knob or pulling a hook, a spring-loaded wheel turns, tapping out a pulsed electrical signal corresponding to the box's number. A receiver at fire headquarters announces the alarm through flashing lights or tones, or via a
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a detachable part of the device to the person triggering the alarm, so that responding police and fire officials (who possessed the key for release) could more easily identify and contact the individual responsible for the activated alarm.
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John F. Kennard bought the patents from the government after they were seized after the Civil War, returned them to
Gamewell, and formed a partnership, Kennard and Co., in 1867 to manufacture the alarm systems. The
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In the later years of their use and proliferation, some fire boxes were designed with special devices and other functions in place in an attempt to curb the nuisance of
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outage. Recommendations by the emergency services teams in
Massachusetts to locate and use the boxes were issued in a subsequent outage of the 9-1-1 system as well.
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Despite lack of popular awareness that the boxes still work, a fire box was used to report a fire in Boston in
December 2018 during a
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purchased regional rights to market the fire alarm telegraph, later obtaining the patents and full rights to the system in 1859.
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for their "Electromagnetic Fire Alarm
Telegraph for Cities." In 1855,
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377:"How a vintage technology — fire boxes — still works in Boston"
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fire alarm boxes near schools and other sensitive locations.
207:, Massachusetts in 1852. Two years later they applied for a
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National
Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying
500:"13 Retro Products That Failed To Catch On [pics]"
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Why S.F. still counts on street fire alarm boxes - SFGate
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The first telegraph fire alarm system was developed by
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56:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
425:"Why S.F. still counts on street fire alarm boxes"
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16:Device for notifying a fire department of a fire
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8:
861:Hypoxic air technology for fire prevention
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187:Combined police telephone and fire alarm (
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116:Learn how and when to remove this message
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152:is a device used for notifying a
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423:Wildermuth, John (Feb 7, 2012).
225:Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Co
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902:Vehicle fire suppression system
590:Combustibility and flammability
41:needs additional citations for
375:Walters, Quincy (2018-12-30).
357:. Gamewell-FCI. Archived from
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1252:Institution of Fire Engineers
1209:Fire Safety Evaluation System
881:Personal protective equipment
448:Levenson, Eric (2024-06-22).
1323:GHS precautionary statements
1161:Manual fire alarm activation
524:Gamewell-FCI company history
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1126:Explosive gas leak detector
943:Electromagnetic door holder
776:External water spray system
267:False alarm countermeasures
21:Fire alarm (disambiguation)
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243:Gamewell fire alarm box (
134:Somerville, Massachusetts
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856:Gaseous fire suppression
621:Enthalpy of vaporization
197:William Francis Channing
172:Fire alarm control panel
1063:Pressurisation ductwork
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876:Passive fire protection
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65:"Fire alarm call box"
1175:Professions, trades,
1088:Smokeproof enclosure
948:Electromagnetic lock
656:Flammability diagram
567:Fundamental concepts
341:"No cause for alarm"
50:improve this article
19:For other uses, see
1449:American inventions
1131:Fire alarm call box
1038:Heat and smoke vent
406:New York Daily News
150:fire alarm pull box
146:fire alarm call box
1103:Fire alarm systems
918:Annulus (firestop)
846:Flashback arrestor
811:Fire-safe polymers
806:Fire retardant gel
661:Flammability limit
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1414:
1313:Flame spread
1199:Fireproofing
1177:and services
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1078:Smoke damper
1068:Safety glass
1003:Fire hydrant
968:Fire curtain
928:Booster pump
887:Relief valve
851:Fusible link
641:Fire loading
636:Fire control
606:Deflagration
505:29 September
503:. Retrieved
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484:29 September
482:. Retrieved
478:the original
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457:. Retrieved
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432:. Retrieved
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410:the original
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384:. Retrieved
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359:the original
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302:the original
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48:Please help
43:verification
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1033:Grease duct
988:Fire escape
978:Fire damper
871:Intumescent
816:Fire safety
781:Fire bucket
676:Flash point
1443:Categories
1330:(NFPA 101)
1293:CE marking
1146:Fire drill
749:Technology
646:Fire point
631:Fire class
611:Detonation
459:2024-07-11
434:2018-05-16
386:2024-07-11
308:2015-12-15
284:References
235:Robustness
76:newspapers
1286:Standards
1215:Fire test
1043:Occupancy
1008:Fire pump
998:Fire hose
983:Fire door
963:Exit sign
938:Crash bar
711:Pyrolysis
706:Pool fire
671:Flashover
626:Explosive
574:Backdraft
381:WBUR News
161:Operation
106:July 2009
1415:Category
1379:See also
1308:EN 16034
1018:Firestop
973:Fire cut
696:Jet fire
686:Gas leak
602:(HAZMAT)
585:Boilover
277:handcuff
1427:Commons
1260:(NCEES)
581:(BLEVE)
179:History
90:scholar
1358:Awards
1272:(SFPE)
1266:(NFPA)
1248:(FEMA)
1211:(FSES)
429:SFGate
209:patent
205:Boston
92:
85:
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1349:UL 94
1303:EN 54
1254:(IFE)
883:(PPE)
261:9-1-1
148:, or
97:JSTOR
83:books
1298:EN 3
1278:(UL)
507:2015
486:2015
199:and
69:news
454:CNN
215:of
203:in
52:by
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