Burlington Mall - Burlington, MA Pull stations: Simplex 4251-20’s in older areas, 2099-9754’s or 4099-9001’s in newer areas.
Detectors: Older areas used to have 2098-9201’s, but many have been replaced with conventional TrueAlarms. A newer area has addressable TrueAlarms, suggesting that the panel has been upgraded. Signals: LifeAlarm speaker/visuals in older areas, some of which have been replaced with TrueAlert or vertical 4903 speaker/strobes. Some of the 2nd floor has 2904 visuals and 4902/TrueAlert speakers (obviously added later.) Most stores have 4903 or TrueAlert horn/strobes. The previously mentioned newer area has ceiling-mount TrueAlert speaker/strobes.
Nordstrom - Burlington, MA Pull stations: EST SIGA-278’s
Two interesting fire alarm updates from my school district today. The first being that it would appear that one of the elementary schools just received an upgrade (actually, the last remaining school with its original system). The former system at this 1989-built school was a Simplex 400X with Simplex 2901-9838 horns on 4903-9001 strobe plates and Simplex 4251-20 pull stations. Now, however, it would seem the entire system has been upgraded to an addressable Notifier system with Notifier NBG-12LX pull stations and System Sensor P(x)WL horn/strobes and SWL strobes. There may also be ceiling-mount devices, although I only saw wall-mount.
Secondly, although I can’t 100% verify this, just today I saw the first construction photos from a new early childhood education center in my district that’s scheduled to open in about two months. This building has a super similar addressable Notifier system, but with what look like System Sensor SPSRL speaker/strobes instead.
Also, if for some reason you’re curious, here’s a general summary of the use of certain fire alarm companies within my district from the 1960s to present day, as best I’ve been able to figure out.
1960s-2000: Fully Simplex
2000-2008: Simplex systems, Wheelock N/A’s
2008: Fully Simplex (single-exception)
2008-2016: Siemens systems, Wheelock N/A’s
2016-present: Notifier Systems, Wheelock or System Sensor N/A’s
Weird exception: A really strange Siemens system with Edwards Genesi, installed around 2010.
It’s interesting how school districts can vary with fire alarm systems, even going with an unusual exception out of their normal pattern. For example, all the school buildings in Brockton that were built in the 1950s and 1960s generally went with Gamewell fire alarm systems, except the middle school near my house, which went with an Edwards system for some reason.
Speaking of which, today I did a K-O the Kangaroo appearance at an elementary school in Bridgewater MA as part of an assembly relating to the Brockton Rox baseball team and the school district’s reading program tying into the Rox. The school was originally built in 1961 as a high school, and then in 2007 it was repurposed into a middle school when they built a new high school campus that year. Then after one of the elementary schools had its’ roof collapse from a heavy load of snow during that rough winter of early 2015, they moved into the middle school building and repurposed it into a temporary elementary school location.
Apparently when it became a middle school in 2007, that’s when their current fire alarm system was installed. They have a Notifier system with Wheelock AS horn/strobes, FSP-851 smoke detectors and NBG-12LX pulls. I didn’t see the panel or any annunciators from what I saw, but I am betting the panel is in the ONYX series, since the NBG-12LXs were blinking green (my best guess is that it’s an NFS-640.) In the auditorium though, not too far from an NBG-12LX I could see the backplate and switch of a Gamewell Century pull! (I recognized it because it looked exactly like the backplate on my Gamewell Century when I’d open it.) This suggests the school was originally built with a Gamewell FlexAlarm system or something like that. They also had these rectangular grilles that apparently both the school bells (no longer in use) and the old fire alarms were installed behind together (in a manner similar to my second elementary school.) I couldn’t see into the grilles very well, but I could barely make out what appeared to be a 6" Edwards Adaptabel as one of the old school bells. In the main office I could see what appeared to be the original master clock panel, a tall gray one with a small square clock on the top. It was opened and most likely no longer in use, as a Simplex 6400 master clock was right near it (most of the clocks I saw were the newer-style round Simplex ones that date back to the late 80s or early 90s.)
The elementary school building that had the roof collapse was built in 1996, and has a Simplex fire alarm system, presumably a 4020 or something. From the photos and videos I saw, they have what appear to be electromechanical horizontal 4903 horn/strobes (probably 4903-9219s), but I did see a couple of TrueAlert horn/strobes that were most likely replacing 4903 horn/strobes that failed.
The new Aldi renovation near my house has a Fire-Lite Endurance 50X system with 6 ceiling mounted System Sensor L-Series alarms in the shopping area in a checker pattern with 3 being horn/strobes and 3 being strobes. In the cold area there are SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes or strobes. The store also has 2 System Sensor carbon monoxide alarms and a Honeywell siren by the entrance door. The bathroom corridor + the bathroom themselves have remote strobes. The only pull is a Fire-Lite BG-12. (The original alarms before the renovation were SpectrAlert Classics and BG-10s)
La Salsa (originally Sunrise) has white ceiling System Sensor L-Series horn/strobes. There are no visable pull stations or annunciator, and the smoke detectors are old (Pyrotronics?) smoke detectors. There was no original system, so some of those detectors could have been smoke alarms. Outside, there is a SpectrAlert Advance weatherproof strobe with a non-ADA MASS strobe (theres one outside each door on the plaza. That tells you how old the place is and how overdue the system was.
Toy’s R Us in Vernon Hills has a VERY OLD Gamewell System with Simplex 2901-9838 horns on 4903-9101 strobe plates, TWO on each thin piller! Some of the -9838 horns are turned 90°. Pulls are Gamewell Centuries.
Petco in the same area has a dated Radionics system with lots of System Sensor SpectrAlert horn/strobes. Pulls are BG-12s rebranded by A.D.T.
A brand new gigantic Menards has a Fire-Lite Endurance 200X system with System Sensor L-Series horn/strobes and strobes. Pulls are all Fire-Lite BG-12s.
A Target in Mundelien has a mid-point Radionics system with white SpectrAlert ceiling horn/strobes and remote strobes and Radionics T-Bars. It’s under renovation right now, so it could become a modern Fire-Lite system.
Home Depot - Waltham, MA
ORIGINAL SYSTEM (before ~2014) Panel: EST IRC-3 (the panel was located at the entrance) Pull stations: SIGA-278’s Signals: Wheelock AS horn/strobes and RSS strobes (all ceiling mount)
CURRENT SYSTEM Panel: Some sort of Silent Knight system, judging by the annunciator at the entrance. Pull stations: SD500-PS’s Signals: SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes and strobes. (also ceiling mount)
I have NO idea why this “upgrade” happened. :x
CF Market Mall has an EST3 system (saw the annunciator), with EST 757-5A-TW (white) horn/strobes and 757-1A-TW (white) horns in the hallways, mounted on the ceiling, with the FIRE lettering vertically. In the stores, there are EST 757-5A-T (red) horn/strobes mounted either on the ceiling or the wall. The Toys ‘R’ Us in there has Edwards 882-2B horns instead of Integrity horn/strobes, possibly from the 1988 renovation. The Safeway in there has an Integrity horn/strobe in the passage to it, but the main horn/strobes in there are System Sensor SpectrAlert P1224MC, There are also white-painted Edwards flush-mounted Adaptahorns everywhere, not sure if its part of it or not. Pulls are Edwards 270-GAO (not two-stage setup tho) in the main mall, and Grinnell-rebranded Notifier MPS-950B in the Safeway. The strobes are synchronized, but not the horns, and they do code-3
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I was here again, and there ARE outdoor signals, although they are hardly noticeable. On one side of the mall, there’s an EST 757-1A-T horn beside a sprinkler bell, and in some sheltered outdoor areas, there are EST 757-7A-T horn/strobes, a few other sides have EST 405-7A-T strobes. The Safeway’s entrance has a System Sensor P1224MCK horn/strobe. All Integrities (indoors and outdoors) are 15/75cd. Some EST 757-7A-TW horn/strobes are in the stores, most on ceiling but some on walls. Smokes are EST (GE) SIGA-PS, and some pulls are EST SIGA-270P (older EST logo). the system is also programmed for audible silence. The EST 3 was added in the 2004 renovation.
40 Second Avenue - Waltham, MA
Pull Stations: Notifier NBG-10L’s (and a Fire-Lite BG-12)
Detectors: System Sensor 2400’s
Signals: Wheelock EH-EL1-WM-24 and AS horn/strobes
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I was here again, and saw the panel, a Notifier System 5000 with several troubles on it. (probably due to construction on the 3rd floor)
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I was here once again, and the construction is done and the troubles are gone!
I have an update to a system I posted a couple of years ago. This concerns the Henry Ford Health System - Records Center in Detroit.
Since visiting with a class as part of a college clinical course, I’ve gotten a job there. Recently, while working in the ground-floor parking area, a painted-over pull station next to the old guard shack caught my attention. Upon a closer look, I discovered the pull station was a vintage Fire-Lite BG-5! (It’s possible Autocall may have rebranded this device, too.) It didn’t appear that the pull station had “LOCAL ALARM” stamped on it, and was most likely inactive due to an ADT-branded NBG-12LX close by.
From what I can conclude, this device was most likely installed in the 50s or 60s, and part of the original Autocall(?) system. The old double-projector horns and bells are still intact, but the system was replaced by an ADT Unimode-series panel with the NBG-12LX pulls and SpectrAlert Advance horn/strobes and strobes, both ceiling and wall-mount.
BMO Bank of Montreal (in the same building with the Smashburger and Sobeys Liquor previously mentioned, the building probably has an EST QuickStart) in Royal Oak, has EST G1R-HDVM horn/strobes. Pulls are EST SIGA-270, smokes are all SIGA-PS.
Canadian Tire in Airdrie has a Notifier ONYX system (panel at service entrance, unknown model #), with System Sensor SpectrAlert P1224MC horn/strobes. Pulls are Notifier NBG-12LX.
Barbecues Galore in NE Calgary has an unknown system, possibly Edwards, with an Edwards 439D-10AWC bell. The only pull i saw was a classic Edwards 270-SPO, without the words “FIRE ALARM” at the top.
Here’s an interesting system at another, older high school in my school district. The school was built in 1918, and had several additions throughout the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, and the addition of a second auxiliary building behind the school in the 1950s (which unfortunately I’ve never been in), PLUS a major addition and renovation in 1975. Phew… this school has been through a lot, but it’s scheduled to be replaced in 2019, and what will happen to the old campus is unknown. In any case, y’all only care about the fire alarms, so I’ll go ahead and share this wacky system. Obviously, as I mentioned above, I’ve only ever been inside of the main building on the campus so I have no idea if the auxiliary building has the same system or not. The panel is (allegedly, according to the fire alarm inspection records) a Simplex 4020. Bizarrely enough, the pull stations are all Edwards 270-SPOs, and the smoke detectors are a mixture of Edwards SIGAs and Simplex TrueAlarms. Of course, because we can’t have any consistency, the notification appliances are mostly Gentex SHG-series horn/strobes, mixed with the standard medley of newer Wheelock devices that you get with every school in my district. I’m pretty sure there are a few Edwards Genesi somewhere in the school too, but I didn’t see any the last time I was there. The older Gentex devices are all coded to continuous, but the newer devices are all coded to temporal.
Sort of unrelated, but ironically enough one of the things that this school is known for is having five different bell tones depending upon which wing, building, or floor you’re on. Some areas (like the gymnasium) still have mechanical Simplex bells from the 1970s, while some areas (like floors 2 and 3 of the original building) still have the original 1950s Faraday chimes. Other areas just have a tone over the PA (which also varies), and I’m pretty sure the industrial arts wing has some mechanical horns that are still in use.
Portillos in Vernon Hills has a semi-old Fire-Lite system. There were two Gentex SHG horn/strobes, SpectrAlert wall-mounted strobes on the ceiling, one SpectrAlert Advance ceiling mount strobe, and a few wall mounted horn/strobes. Pulls were either Fire-Lite BG-10s or BG-12s, didn’t see.
