Fire Alarms in Buildings (2.0)

Photos From My Vacation:

I recently went on a vacation, and I took plenty of photos. These are the ones that contain fire alarms. Please excuse the bad quality of many of them. I’ll try to organize them by the place that I took the photos in.

Bismarck Municipal Airport Terminal- Bismarck, ND:

This airport terminal was opened in 2005, and has a Simplex 4100U voice evac system. The system was likely put to use a couple weeks ago, when the airport received a (false) bomb threat, and the terminal had to be evacuated.

Airbus A320-214 (N199NV):

Charles L. Williams Passenger Terminal at Mesa Gateway Airport- Mesa, AZ:

This airport seems to have an odd mixture of systems. Most of the airport has an EST3 system, with most parts having mass notification capabilities. Oddly, the ticketing and bag check area has an addressable Fire-Lite system.

As you can see in the photo below, the area with the Fire-Lite system also had this addressable Simplex QuickAlarm near one of the entrances. It was actually the only Simplex device I saw in Arizona. It wasn’t polling. Maybe that area used to have a 4010 system or something?

Here is the EST3 system that covers most of the airport:

There were three distinct areas. The oldest area had these devices:

If you can’t tell, the device on the left is labeled “ALERT”, and the device on the right is labeled “FIRE”. Some places had remote strobes with “FIRE” lettering in place of the speaker/strobes. The wall mounted devices were white speaker/strobes with “FIRE” lettering on top of amber strobe expansion plates with “ALERT” lettering.

The “middle-aged(?)” area had modern EST SIGA-PD detectors, with mostly just the “FIRE” marked devices that can be seen in the older section. The only “ALERT” device I saw was this one:

The newest area had Edwards SIGA-PD detectors and these speaker/strobes:

Holiday Inn Club Vacations Resort- Scottsdale, AZ:

This resort has 17 buildings, with 1-4 and 6-14 being suite buildings. All of the suites are only accessible from the outside. The only notification appliances other than sounder bases are in handicap suites and the common-area buildings. The resort has a Siemens Modular network. There is an SSD-C annunciator at the front desk in the lobby building that is presumably monitoring the entire network. Here are the notification appliances in the common-area buildings:

They have Siemens FDO421 detectors

This device in the arcade was blocked by this machine, even though the picture may not fully show it:

Interestingly, it was set to 110CD even though the room isn’t that big, and there are other devices in there.

Some suites have FDOOT441/OOH941 multi criteria fire detectors on ABHW-4S low frequency sounder bases. The other suites have FDO421/OP921 smoke detectors on the same sounder bases. The handicap suites have the same devices, but with ZR-HMC-W remote strobes. Here’s what my suite in building #14 had:

Every building with a sprinkler system that I saw in the Phoenix area had a setup similar to this on the outside, with a 120v sprinkler bell and clear signage near the FDC, and signage for the FACP room:

I think this is a very good idea to help the FD work as efficiently as possible. If an annunciator was closer to where the FD would arrive, the door to access that would be marked with a sign, saying “FAAP”.

Here’s the one that was on my building:

As you can see, the bell is falling off of the wall.

WestWorld- Scottsdale, AZ:

This event area had two buildings with fire alarm systems that I saw. They were both Edwards/EST systems. The Tony Nelssen Equestrian Center has an EST4 system, and the Multi-Use Tent has what is most likely an EST3 system. Here are some photos:

Tony Nelssen Equestrian Center:

Multi-Use Tent:

Yard House- Phoenix, AZ:

This was a restaurant in a strip mall that has a Notifier system. This was the only business that I saw that didn’t have System Sensor notification appliances. This is the first N-ANN80-W I’ve ever seen. The annunciator showed an invalid reply trouble for the kitchen pull station. It was acknowledged.

Here is a concealite emergency light:

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers- Scottsdale, AZ:

This restaurant appears to have a DMP system. I didn’t see any notification appliances or pull stations, so it’s likely just for sprinkler and/or kitchen hood suppression monitoring. Concerningly, the annunciator screen showed an alarm even though the LEDs were normal, and the piezo was silent. I don’t know anything about DMP systems, but does this mean the system is not working properly?

Barro’s Pizza- Scottsdale, AZ:

This was a small restaurant in a strip mall. I didn’t see any devices other than notification applications, so I have no idea what the system is. It has system sensor PC2R horn/strobes, and SCR remote strobes.

Petco- Scottsdale, AZ:

This was a pretty basic Bosch system with Wheelock AS and RSS devices of both the ceiling and wall mounted varieties. Interestingly, it had Fire-Lite BG-12 pull stations. That Radionics keypad in the photo is for the security portion of the system. There was a red Bosch fire alarm keypad around the corner for the fire alarm portion of the system.

Target- Scottsdale, AZ:

This store appears to have recently received a system upgrade. It appears to be a Fire-Lite ES- series system. They have System Sensor PC2WL and SCWL devices.

Bam Kazam- Scottsdale, AZ:

This place is an interesting amusement attraction. It has a Potter IPA-60 panel with an EVAX-25,50, or 100 voice evac panel. This is a fairly new system with a PAD-100 pull station, and a PAD-100 or 200 smoke detector near the panel. Other than those two devices, the only other initiation devices on the system are the sprinkler flow switches. They use System Sensor SPSWL and SPSCWL speaker/strobes, and SCWL remote strobes.

Superstition Springs Center- Mesa, AZ:

This is a decently sized mall with quite an odd system. It has an addressable Notifier detector at the entrance of every store, but that’s all I saw. They were polling. I didn’t see any pull stations, notification appliances, or annunciators anywhere. It is possible that there are some audible notification appliances hiding in the ceiling, though, as it is a “mesh/grate” type ceiling that would let sound through.

Here is a newer FSP-851 detector I saw:

This photo shows an interesting speaker on the ceiling, and an older detector in the background near the exit sign:

Those speakers can be found throughout the mall playing background music, so it’s entirely possible that they are doubling as fire alarm speakers.

This isn’t from my vacation, but below is a photo that I took at a doctor’s office. It has a Siemens Cerberus PRO FC901 50 point addressable system.

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Sorry for the late reply lol. I didn’t read this until now. This sounds very similar to this system. I also saw a huge Simplex network with devices from the 80s-2010s at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I guess keeping outdated Simplex systems in service, or making as minor of upgrades as possible is just a Hilton thing.

@ScriptedStarlight, is this an interesting EVAX system or what?

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how did you know it was a firelite addressable system? did the pulls show a fire lite logo or did you only base it off the detector style

There were Fire-Lite BG-12LX pull stations, and there was an ANN-80 annunciator at the front entrance. I should’ve mentioned that.

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Saw a Simplex 4903-9101+2901-9838 and a Wheelock RSSP+HNR combo at the McDermott Center

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That first combo is quite common, while the second is not, but it’s also quite interesting.

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It’s probably a replacement for a failed 4903 combo. There’s a lot of 4903 combos there

New Building For A Burger Place Near My HS That Is Getting Its Old Location Demo’d As We Speak

Previous building (which isn’t too far from the new location - literally only like under 50 ft away lol) didn’t have an FA system, but the new location has a DMP system with SS LED L-Series strobes.


Overall setup. DMP station + annunciator, and LED L-Series.

Station up-close.

Annunciator up-close.

NA up-close.

Not pictured is what is presumably an outdoor-rated LED L-Series on the external walls of the building

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I’m glad they didn’t go with a Silent Knight system. It’s cool to see a new DMP system.

Yeah right? I’ve seen a million Silent Knight systems, most of which have went to s**t because of cheap ahh power supplies.

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Almost anything is better than Silent Knight. EST used to be the “laughingstock” of the fire alarm industry (whether or not that was deserved is debatable), but I think Silent Knight, and more broadly Honeywell now deserves to be.

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Right you are, as do Eaton & JCI for what they’ve done to the companies they’ve acquired (Honeywell was better in that aspect for a while after they acquired Pittway & all the other companies they now own, but in recent years even they’ve “faltered”).

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Baptist ER (Emergency Room)

Pulls Est Sigas
EST Smokes
Est announcaitor
System Sensor L Series SPKR
(yes i unfortantly made a visit to the ER cuz i had sliped on ice and broke my arm again)

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l series on a EST!?? Crazy..

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Cadillac Jack’s Gaming Resort- Deadwood, SD

This is a casino “resort” in Deadwood, South Dakota. Deadwood is a gold rush city that is situated in the Black Hills. It is mainly known for its historic buildings, street life, tourism attractions & businesses, restaurants, and casinos/gambling. It has a population of about 1,500 people, but it attracts around 2.5 million tourists annually. I would say it’s like if Las Vegas was a small town.

This resort consists of three hotels: SpringHill Suites by Marriott, DoubleTree by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton. They are distinct buildings that share walls, but are only open to each other at the first floor.

SpringHill Suites:

This building is the most separated building, as it is only accessible from the other buildings by a small hallway. This is a pretty normal hotel, with the lobby, a pool, and a small conference/convention area on the first floor, three floors of hotel rooms above that, and an underground parking garage below the building.

Panel: Kidde/GE FX- or VS- series addressable panel

Notification Appliances: Kidde EG1F-HDVM and EGCF-HDVM horn/strobes, and EG1F-HDVM and EGCF-VM remote strobes in most areas. The pool area and outdoor areas have red Gentex Commander 2/3 horn/strobes in GOE enclosures.

Pull Stations: Kidde/GE GSA-M278 addressable pull stations

Smoke Detectors: Kidde/GE FX-PD or V-PS addressable smoke detectors, with SB4U sounder bases in the rooms

DoubleTree (and casino and restaurant on ground level):

This building is the main building/hub of the whole place, as it is in the middle. The first floor has casino floor space, a customer assistance desk, and a Mexican restaurant. The other three floors have hotel rooms and amenities.

Panel: Most likely a Harrington HS-3030 running CLIP protocol addressable devices

Notification Appliances: White Gentex Commander 2/3 strobes and horn/strobes. The hotel rooms have GX90-4W mini horns. All of the devices are rebranded by Harrington Signal.

Pull Stations: Harrington HSPA1T-S CLIP protocol addressable pull stations

Detectors: System Sensor 2251 and 2251B addressable smoke detectors and 5251RP addressable heat detectors. The hotel rooms have Gentex 8000 series smoke alarms.

Annunciator: Harrington HS-3434LCD annunciator in the front entrance vestibule

Tru (with casino and restaurants on ground level):

This building is also a pretty major building, and is by far the most modern. The first floor has casino floor area, several restaurants, customer service areas, and some shops. The second floor has the hotel lobby and hotel rooms. The third and fourth floor have more hotel rooms. There is an underground parking garage underneath this building.

Panel: Autocall 4010ES or 4100ES

Notification Appliances: Autocall A49AV-APPLW horn/strobes with A49AVC-WRFIRE covers, and A49VO-APPLW remote strobes with A49VOC-WRFIRE covers

Pull Stations: Autocall A4099-9006 dual action addressable pull stations

Detectors: Autocall A4098-9714 addressable smoke detectors. The rooms probably have A4098-9772 sounder bases, but that’s just an educated guess, as I wasn’t able to confirm.

Annunciator: Autocall A4606-9102 or A4603-9101 annunciator (I saw it, but I forgot exactly which one, so I don’t know exactly which panel)

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Golden Corral: Jacksonville, FL

Bonus: Fire alarm fail from this exact location 4 years ago. This is no longer here.

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Not really: those Gentex strobes are infamous for having their support clips break off, so that place was just trying to keep it held on (even if that tape likely blocks the strobe a good bit).

Going by that last part & the fact that there’s still at least one Gentex speaker/strobe in place according to that one photo, did they replace it with a newer device or better fix the strobe?

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They replaced it with a newer device. This time I only saw 1 Gentex device, but last time I saw more of them.

That makes sense but in that case it’s still a fail, just for a different reason…