Fire Alarms in Buildings (2.0)

Wow, That system looks like new!

Btw The remote strobe is a Wheelock RSS-24MCC-FW.

Clarenceville High School (Livonia) - Originally established in the 1940s, this school’s current home opened in 1957, with gymnasium/cafeteria expansions built shortly afterwards (Source: https://supetalk.wordpress.com/). Per Historic Aerials imagery and a historical marker, the Louis Schmidt Auditorium wing (along with the indoor swimming pool) opened in 1968. The most recent addition to the school was a new cafeteria built circa 2012, with the current fire alarm system most likely being installed at that time.

Annunciators/panel:
<The original panel was most likely a Standard Electric Time Co. model as evidence by the device descriptions below.
<The current setup uses one GE/EST annunciator and most likely an addressable GE/EST panel, models unknown.

Detectors:
<EST SIGA-PS photoelectric smoke detectors throughout, some of which have trim skirts around them. The ones in the gym have protective metal covers.

Pull stations:
<Based on wall scars in some spots, the original pull stations throughout were Standard Electric 200177 models.
<The current pull stations are GE/EST SIGA-270 pull stations with STI Stopper II covers.

Notification appliances:
<Based on wall scars in some sports, the original NAs in the 1957 wing were Standard Electric 30A horns (originally made by Federal Signal), possibly with dual projectors.
<All the other additions (minus the 2012 cafeteria) used gray Standard Electric 4-350 horns on trim plates. The gymnasium still has four of these horns intact!
<Class change bells were also used in this school; they most likely were Standard Electric ASJ-6/MAJ-6 models, including ASJ-10/MAJ-10 models outside behind protective casings (there is at least one surviving example on the school’s north side, which can be seen in Google Street View). These were sparse, and presumably, are disconnected; there was a bell in the auditorium which no longer exists. Three of four bells still exist in the gymnasium, with two of them painted over. There was also a 6" bell behind a grille near the kitchen entrance.
<The current NAs are red GE/EST Genesis horn/strobes and strobes; the ones in the gymnasium are of the G1RF-series variety with trim plates (including FIRE lettering on the devices themselves). The rest of the school has the GCRF-series variety along the ceilings.
<There is one EST WG4RF-series horn/strobe next to a northern doorway outside, above a fire department sprinkler connection; this can be seen in Google Street View, too.

East Middle School (Farmington Hills) - According to this source, this two-story school was constructed in 1963 with an expansion following shortly afterwards. Imagery from Historic Aerials shows that a northeastern expansion was built between 1999 and 2002, which is when the current system was installed.

Annunciators/panel:
<Unknown, presumably an addressable National Time model

Detectors:
<National Time D900-series smoke detectors

Pull stations:
<Based on wall scars, the original pull stations were most likely National Time 620M models.
<The current pull stations are National Time 540S-series models (rebranded Sigcom t-bars); interestingly, some of them have the current logo, some have the older logo, and some have no branding at all!

Notification appliances:
<The original signals consisted of National Time 411F horns; most have long since been removed, but the ones in the gym are still intact, albeit painted over.
<There are also class change bells in the school–National Time P806 models behind silver grilles. It is unknown if they still work, however, because most of them are partially obscured by drop ceilings. There were no known outdoor bells.
<The current NAs consist of Gentex GMS horn/strobes and Gentex GXS strobes, presumably rebranded by National Time. There is one weatherproof GMS in the courtyard.
<There is a red 4" National Time bell (a rebranded Faraday 4434) outside the office serving as a trouble bell for the panel.
<The gym has National Time C2-series horn/strobes (rebranded Gentex Commanders) behind metal wire guards along with a weatherproof model in the same courtyard as the GMS.
<At least one of the foyers on the south side has National Time SG-C4HSZ horn/strobes (rebranded ceiling-mount Gentex Commanders) installed.

Garden City High School (Garden City) - First opened in 1950 (per Wikipedia article), the school has been expanded several times over the years, with the most recent being a gymnasium wing on the northeast side of the school (circa mid 80s-early 90s per Historic Aerials is my best guess).

Annunciators/panel:
<Unknown, presumably National Time

Detectors:
<Unknown, none noticed

Pull stations:
<National Time 641 models, with the ones in the gymnasium protected by STI Stopper II covers.

Notification appliances:
<It is unknown what the original devices were, but there are rectangular metal plates where there used to be horns and/or bells.
<Most of the school contains National Time-branded Wheelock 7002T-24 horn/strobes, including C7001T-24 models!
<The O’Leary Auditorium wing has National Time-branded Faraday horn/strobes (model unknown) with the flush-mount plates, appearing to replace the original devices as they were mounted on red metal square plates.
<A renovated section near the cafeteria has white National Time CXCLP-series speaker/strobes (rebranded Gentex models).

Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Madison Heights Campus (Madison Heights) - Historic Aerials imagery shows that the current hospital campus was built during the 1960s, with a westward expansion (built prior to 1983) doubling the size of the main building.

Annunciators/panel:
<Unknown

Detectors:
<System Sensor 1424 ionization detectors throughout the building
<At least one of the detectors was replaced by a System Sensor 2151-series model.

Pull stations:
<The main entrance lobby has a Faraday F1GGT pull station.
<Most of the hospital contains National Time 641 models, replacing the original devices in some cases as some of them were mounted at pre-ADA levels.
<Some of the 641s were replaced by EST SIGA-278 models.

Notification appliances:
<The main entrance lobby has what I believe to be a Faraday 2958 speaker/strobe or a close equivalent.
<Most of the hospital has Faraday speaker/strobes (or possibly chime/strobes) with flush-mount plates and the cylindrical strobe mounted at the front. Some of these are mounted over what used to be the original devices, which also appeared to use flush-mount plates. At least one of these devices is mounted on a large red square plate, which may indicate there was more than one variety of alarm.
<There is a Veeder-Root overflow alarm device (with the Edwards Adaptahorn and red beacon) on the outside of a mechanical room (viewable in Google Street View).

I’m about to get my hair cut, and the building has Gentex commander 2/3s and a simplex truealert remote strobe. Very peculiar combo

Chili’s (Canton Township)

Annunciators/panel:
<Unknown, presumably Fire-Lite

Detectors:
<Edwards 281B heat detectors

Pull stations:
<Fire-Lite NBG-10 models

Notification appliances:
<Gentex GX90S-4-15/75WR horn/strobes

I recently came back from a trip during which I flew in and out of my local international airport (YOW). I made a rather short post about this system about 10 years ago, but I thought I’d make a new one now as there have been changes in the system in the intervening years. This is undoubtedly one of the most unique systems from the last 20 years I’ve seen in my area.

The main part of the terminal was completed in late 2003, and an expansion with additional gates was completed in 2008. The airport has a Notifier system; given that the parkade (which was built at the same time as the main part of the terminal) has what appears to be an NFS-3030 panel, the terminal likely has the same type of system.

Pull stations throughout the 2003 and 2008 parts of the terminal are Notifier FM-955s. These pull stations are also used in the parkade.

Smoke detectors in the 2003 part of the terminal are Notifier FSP-751As; I also noticed an FSP-951A in a newly renovated part of the terminal. The 2008 expansion features FSP-851TA smoke/heat detectors. Additionally, multiple System Sensor BEAM-series beam smoke detectors are installed throughout both parts of the terminal.

The signals are perhaps the most interesting part of the system. The setup in the 2008 addition is simple, consisting almost exclusively of System Sensor SP200 series ceiling-mount speakers; a few white ceiling-mount L-Series speakers (SPCWLAs) were installed about three years ago in an area that underwent renovations. The 2003 part, however, features a mix of horns and speakers. The signals used in the 2003 part are the following:

  • The devices are primarily a mix of white Wheelock AH horns, greyish Wheelock MT4 horns, and square 4” Arnscott Electronics AS4000 speakers. These are the building’s original signals. Interestingly, the AH and MT4 horns do not appear to be installed in a random manner: the AH horns seem to be used exclusively on finished ceilings, while the MT4s are used exclusively for wall-mount installations (on columns) and in open channels in the ceiling (where they are mounted on exposed backboxes). Moreover, given the height of the ceiling and the lack of columns in the baggage claim area, four MT4 horns are mounted face-up in the center of each luggage carousel. These horns and speakers are the building’s original signals.
  • The washrooms feature white Wheelock ET-1070-LSM-24 speaker/strobes. These speaker/strobes are also original (I’m surprised that these devices were still being installed in 2003).
  • The security checkpoint for US departures features white wall-mount System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance speakers (SPWAs), which were installed a few years ago when this area was remodeled.
  • The new security checkpoint for domestic and international departures has a mix of red System Sensor L-Series horns (HRLAs) and white wall-mount L-Series speakers (SPWLAs). These devices are mounted in groups of four on columns: the columns feature two horns, mounted on opposite sides, and two speakers, on the two remaining sides.
  • The newly renovated concourse near the old domestic/international security checkpoint has white Wheelock Exceder horns (HNWs) mounted on the ceiling.

Notifier firefighters’ phones are also used throughout the terminal. Interestingly, some of these phones are mounted on special trim plates with integrated speakers; I’ve never seen these plates anywhere else. The phones mounted on these trim plates originally featured silver faceplates that matched the trim plates, but these were replaced with red faceplates (as shown in the first photo) a few years ago.

Finally, the signals in the parkade are 10” Notifier KMS-series bells.

The combination of signals is so peculiar and is, to me, the most interesting part of this system. The fact that the 2008 addition only seems to feature speakers while the 2003 part of the terminal uses both speakers and horns is strange enough (there is no separation between the two parts—this is one continuous building), but I’m especially baffled by the fact that in the 2003 part of the terminal, speakers and horns do not seem to be used consistently. While some areas feature both speakers and horns (the new international and domestic security checkpoint, for instance), some areas only seem to feature horns (the concourse areas and seating areas, for instance), and other areas only appear to feature speakers (the washrooms, for instance). I’d love to find out how the signals are configured to operate as I’ve never seen a system with this type of setup. I’m also surprised by the nearly complete lack of strobes, as the building is not particularly old, and every other major Canadian airport I’ve visited has either full coverage (Montreal, for instance) or at least partial coverage (Vancouver, for instance).

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Grand View Lodge - Nisswa, MN
Pool/Fitness/Laundry building
Pulls: Sigcom SG-32 series rebranded by Silent Knight
Detectors: System Sensor i3’s in most areas and a beam detector in the pool area.
Signals: Wheelock AS and NS horn/strobes

Gull Lake Center
Pulls: Silent Knight SD500-PS near the information desk
Detectors: SD505-APS’
Signals: Wheelock ZNS horn/strobes

North Hotel & NorthPark
Pulls: Silent Knight IDP-PULL near the front desk
Detectors: IDP-PHOTO’s


Signals: L-Series horn/strobes and remote strobes


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File 7: Warrenton Middle School.

Activation devices: Pyre-a-larm pull station.

Notification appliances: Gentex GX90s

Location summary: The school was founded in 1926 and has multiple floors. It even has an elevator for people to use. I find it interesting that the school has old school fire alarms since it really brings out the old look. I don’t think the alarms are super old though. If I had to guess, the fire alarms probaly range from 80’s to the late 2000’s.

This past weekend I attended Anthro New England 2023, now held at the Westin Boston Seaport District hotel, just across the street from the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The hotel was built in 2005-06 (the newest location we’ve held the con at so far), and much of the fire alarm system still uses the original devices from when the place was built. I didn’t see any panels or annunciators, but they apparently have a Gamewell-FCI voice-evac system, given the merger happened when construction was going on, so the panel is most likely an E3-series system, possibly one of the first of its’ kind installed in Boston!
The majority of the alarm signals are the older bulky-looking System Sensor SpectrAlert speaker/strobes in red; many of them are the version with the strobe on the right, but I did see at least one with the strobe on the left. But one section of the lobby level where one of the ballrooms and a few panel rooms are was renovated at some point and has red SpectrAlert Advance speaker/strobes, along with some red ceiling-mount SpectrAlert Advance speakers for extra sound coverage.
Pull stations are all addressable BG-12s; many of them are branded by Gamewell (most likely clearing out old stock after the merger, or it could be left over from plans to go with a Gamewell voice-evac system before the merger happened). The aforementioned renovated area has them branded by Gamewell-FCI, making them MS-7s.
There are also ASD-PL2F smoke detectors throughout the hotel. In the renovated area, they are on the newer cone-shaped base. I also saw one in a panel room that had the base cover missing!
My hotel room (and I presume the other “regular” hotel rooms here) had a white SpectrAlert remote speaker and an ASD-PL2F smoke detector on an older 2000s-style sounder base.

My Great grandmother’s Assisted living facility has a Wheelock Exceder in the living room and one in each bedroom. I can’t imagine waking up to one of those.

My school had a fire drill today, so I figured i’d share what fire alarms the school has.


My school has a Notifier system. The notification appliances consist of Wheelock RS, NS and MTs, and a Gentex GHX-90. The pull stations are all BG-10s. I was only able to get a picture of the fire alarm panel as the school has now changed their phone policy.

What are the smokes and heats

Wow. I have never seen a bg-10 with a key switch on top

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The smoke detectors are System Sensor 2400’s. I don’t think my school has heat detectors though.

I should’ve mentioned that my school has BG-12 pull stations as well.

Ok, cool. I thought that the detectors would be sdx-551,s

A coopers hawk was recently built by me, and has a brand new Autocall system! Pull stations and smoke detectors are rebranded 4099 pulls & truealarms. i think this might be the first report of those TrueAlertES ceiling horn/strobes that look like the speaker/strobes. idk if there’s a way to tell between the two but yeah. everythings branded as autocall

theres a new gen ceiling strobe when you walk in btw

La hacienda ranch Mexican restaurant in colleyville tx

NA’s gentex SPKE4-15/75WR’s

Pull stations: fire-lite BG-10’s and one BG-12

Smoke detectors: unknown

FACP: unknown
Annuciator: unknown
Boomerjacks bar and grill in lake worth Tx

NA’s: system sensor pc2wl’s & scwl’s

Pull stations: unknown

Smoke detectors: unknown

Annuciator: silent knight 5860

FACP: unknown

My local Home Depot

Annunciator: silent knight RA-1000

Pull stations: silent knight SD500-ps

NA’s : gentex GCC24CR’s

Texas Roadhouse northlake TX

Annunciator: silent knight 5860

Pull stations: fire-lite bg-12’s

NA’s: system sensor spscrl’s

Plymouth High School (Canton Township) - Located within the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park, this building opened in 2002 with the second incarnation of the Plymouth High School name; the first was what is now the Plymouth Arts & Recreation Complex, a location I previously documented on the forums. Normally, I would not document an alarm system this modern, but due to an ongoing addition to the southeast, plus some interesting discoveries I made outside, I feel it is worthy to make this entry.

Annunciators/panel:
<One National Time 902-series addressable panel at the main entrance.
<Right next to the panel is an older Ademco/Honeywell annunciator–possibly tied into the panel and/or the school’s security system.

Detectors:
<National Time Digicomm photoelectric smoke detectors throughout the building; at least one of them does not have a base while the others do.
<Gentex 9000-series photoelectric smoke detectors above elevator doors.
<Interestingly, at least one elevator door area has an older System Sensor 1251B plug-in ionization detector, possibly installed as a replacement.

Pull stations:
<National Time 541-series t-bars behind semi-flush protective covers throughout the building, all of which are originally made by Sigcom.

Notification appliances:
<National Time C2-series horn/strobes and strobes throughout the building.
<Outside, this school has a series of National Time P806(?) bells encased in weatherproof covers; the cover is the same design that my National Time P810 bell has! This would suggest that the school originally used vibrating bells for class change; there are metal plates near some of the NAs inside, which would suggest there may have been vibrating bells there as well (most likely National Time 306-6 models), but I did not see any during my visit. The school has a public address system outside, too, so it is likely the bells no longer function.