Yes, I started looking up the vids after fire drills at school.
I think that most people here must have gotten their interest in watching YouTube videos after a school fire drill. I know I did.
This is actually a pretty weird story.
As a child, I hated fire drills, because the bells (Simplex 2901-9724) were deafening!! I would cry whenever the fire alarm went off, and when they were performing a walk test, I couldn’t focus. The principal decided that a good solution is to tell me before hand so I could go outside before the bells went off (even though there were bells on the outside of the building). Whenever the principal called me down to the office, everyone in the class would say, “looks like we’re having a fire drill…”
One day in 2nd grade, the principal actually came to our classroom and asked to speak with me. As my classmates predicted, we were having another fire drill. However, this one was different. The principal wanted me to see how the fire drill worked!
So, I followed the janitor while he went through the procedure. While he pulled the alarm box (Simplex FM950KE), I actually saw dust come out of the box! I had my ears covered, because I expected it to go off as soon as he pulled it, but there was a 5-second delay. I remember watching the fire doors close, classes walking to the exits, and watching the janitor use a screwdriver to reset the pull station. We waited a minute or two, then went to the electrical closet, where he opened the panel (Simplex 4002), pushed a button, and the bells stopped. It was such an eerie feeling, because it was dead quiet in the school. Then, a buzzer went off, and for 10 seconds all the lights on the panel were on. I then followed him as he reset the security keypad, and then I went out for recess.
I looked up fire alarm bells on YouTube when I got home. I came across wiley’s “School Bells and Fire Alarms” video, which introduced me to both fire alarms and YouTube Poops!! :lol:
I’ve been hooked since then, nothing more to say!
Well, no one really knows. I thinks its from when i was trying to figure out my old school’s fire alarm, and it just caught my intrest. Its weird, because like 1-2 years ago i had a fear of fire alarms. :?:
I started to like fire alarms because of fire drills at my school, as well as some false alarms I had witnessed as a kid. I used to be terrified of them (we had bells for fire alarms growing up, very loud things they were).
What got me intrested was a EST Genesis and i always wanted one 
I was also terrified of smoke and fire alarms growing up. Our first house, which I moved from when I was 7, had Probe 202’s. Those had the old AC electromechanical horns, and they were extremely loud. I was terrified of them.
My third house had FireX FX1020’s, which also had the old AC electromechanical horns and were incredibly loud. I’m pretty sure that anyone who has heard those things would agree with me. I also hated those.
As for fire alarms, my middle school had Standard 4-350’s behind Standard light plates in one half of the building. Those were very loud. The other half had Standard 30A’s, which were even louder. I was petrified of those. Then one day in 9th grade, I decided to look on eBay for school bells and fire alarms. I got an Edwards 4-inch AdaptaBel and an Amseco BZ-54VT horn. I then acquired a classic SpectrAlert. Shortly after that, I came across The Schumin Web, and I listened to the alarms on there. Then, like many of you, I searched for and watched fire alarm vids on YouTube. I am well over my fear by now.
So that’s the story of how I became interested in smoke and fire alarms. I know that this is mainly about fire alarms, but I feel that the smoke alarm part was warranted.
U had electromechanical horns in your house?! Wow. That’s harsh. And yes Standard 3-350s are loud. I know from personal experience.
Umm, he meant those tiny silver buzzers that smoke alarms from the 70s and 80s had before piezoelectric horns.
I used to have anxiety around fire alarms, but when I started hanging out here, it turned more into an interest. Having a dad for a firefighter helps too.
I was interested in the school bells at my Elementary school, which are Stromberg 6in bells that must be EXTREMELY rare since no info on the web. A few months later, I created a YouTube account. That’s my story.