What alarm do you have at work/school

Fire Alarms
1144

Updated 2023 since I know more about the systems in my schools. I’ve also added my elementary schools and middle school as well.

Elementary school (Kindergarten)

This was a K-2 school that was built in 1956 and was mostly original when I was there. I was only there my kindergarten year but my sister went there several years later and my mother worked as a paraeducator at that school from 2016-2019 so I was able to see the school after they made some changes to it. The building was entirely one floor but at different elevations and had ramps between these different elevations. Then in 2014, they built a two floor wing onto the school and were required to install two staircases and an elevator. There are plans to demolish the original building, preserving the 2014 expansion, and building a new building for the school.

Panel

I don't know what the panel was prior to the expansion but they replaced the panel when the expansion was built with a Fire-Lite MS-9600UDLS and a Fire-Lite ECC-50/100 voice panel.

Notification Devices

  • System Sensor SpectrAlert P1224MC horn strobes (located in hallways and common areas) set to temporal high volume.
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert S1224MC strobes (located in classrooms and hallways)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance P2R horn strobe (located in the gym)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SR strobes (various locations in building)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SCW ceiling-mount strobe (in offices and restrooms in 2014 expansion)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SPSCW ceiling-mount speaker strobe (in classrooms in 2014 expansion)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SPSR speaker strobe (located in hallways in 2014 expansions, and replaced various horn strobes throughout the building)

Smoke Detectors

I have no idea what the detectors were in the original sections of the building, but the 2014 expansion had Fire-Lite SD355 and H355 detectors.

Pull Stations

  • Edwards 270-SPO (located throughout the building, ones in gym had GE branding)
  • ESL RMS-1T-KS-LP pull stations (replaced a few 270s)
  • Fire-Lite BG-12LX (in the 2014 expansion)

I’m not sure what the voice evac sounded like but it was probably the default tone and message. The horn strobes were set to temporal on high volume as I said before, and they were completely out of sync so it sounded like it was on continuous until you got close to a horn strobe and it turned into ear-piercing loud temporal.

Elementary School (1st-5th grade)

The building was built in 1935 and originally housed a high school which moved into a new building in 1998 and the old building was renovated and converted into an elementary school and middle school which opened in 1999.

Panel

  • EST2

Notification Devices

  • EST Integrity Speaker Strobe 757-7A-RS70
  • EST Integrity Strobe 202-7A-T
  • Wheelock RSS-24MCW-FR strobe (used as replacements)
  • Wheelock E70-24MCW-FR speaker strobe (used as replacements)

Detectors

  • EST SIGA-PS

Pull Stations

  • EST SIGA-278

The alarm played the integrity horn tone on temporal followed by a slightly altered EST default voice evac message with the “do not use elevators” line removed (despite there being like four wheelchair lifts and three normal elevators in the building). Here is the message: “Attention! Attention! An emergency has been reported in this building. Please cease operations and leave the building utilizing the nearest exit, or fire exit stairway.”

Middle School

The building was built in 1966 and originally housed a high school until it merged with the high school that I attended in 1987. The middle school was moved into the 1966 building and the former middle school building was converted into a holding school which was demolished in 2018 so they could build a new building and relocate the middle school back to that location. Following the opening of the new middle school in mid-2020, the 1966 building was demolished so they could build a new high school due to major developments in the area. The building originally had a Simplex system with bells and "chevron" pull stations, a few of those devices still remained while I was there, but the actually functional system was replaced.

Panel

  • Fire-Lite MS-9600
  • Fire-Lite ACC-25/50 voice panel

Notification devices

  • System Sensor SpectrAlert SP2R1224MC speaker strobe (installed in the music classrooms)
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SPSR speaker strobe
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SR strobe
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SCW ceiling-mount strobe
  • System Sensor SpectrAlert Advance SPSCW ceiling-mount speaker strobe

Detectors

  • Fire-Lite SD355 smoke
  • Fire-Lite H355 heat

Pull Stations

  • Fire-Lite BG-12LX

The alarm had the ACC-25/50 whoop tone followed by the default message: “May I have your attention please! May I have your attention please! The signal you have just heard indicates the report of a fire in this building. Please proceed to the nearest exit and leave the building. Do not re-enter the building unless directed to do so by the proper authorities”

High School

My high school was built in 1956 and had a few expansions done to it in the 70s. A major expansion and renovation was done to the school throughout the 2000s, beginning in the fall of 2001 and was completed in the summer of 2010, expanding the capacity of the school to around 2400 students. Despite the fairly recent expansion, the school was way over capacity during the four years I was there (September 2019 - June 2023) which required them to add more portables to the school, there were about 10 or 11 when I started there in 2019 and four more added during the 2022-2023 school year, bringing the total number of portables to 15.

Panel

  • EST3
  • Replaced an EST2 from circa 2006

Smoke Detectors

  • EST SIGA-PS

Notification Appliances

  • EST Genesis ceiling mount speaker strobe GCF-S7VM
  • EST Genesis wall mount speaker strobe G4RF-S7VM and G4R-S7VM
  • EST Genesis wall mount strobe G1R-VM and G1RF-VM
  • EST Genesis ceiling mount strobe GCF-VM
  • EST Genesis ceiling mount speaker GCF-S7
  • EST Genesis wall mount speaker G4RF-S7 and G4R-S7
  • EST Integrity wall mount strobe 405-7A-T (used in a few faculty restrooms)
  • EST Integrity ceiling mount speaker strobe 965-7A-4RR (yes, such a thing actually exists, and the ones at my school were red)
  • EST Integrity wall mount speaker strobe 757-3A-RS70 (used on exterior of building)
  • EST Integrity strobe 202-7A-T (all of them in my school are mounted to the ceiling)
  • System Sensor P2R SpectrAlert Advance horn strobe in the portables
  • System Sensor L-Series horn strobe P2RL in a couple newer portables
  • Wheelock RSS-24MCC-FW ceiling mount strobe (in the wood shop)
  • Wheelock E70-R speakers (in a few classrooms in the phase-1 expansion of the school from 2002-2004)
  • Wheelock E90-24MCC-FW speaker strobes (in various locations in the phase-1 expansion of the school)

Pull stations

  • EST SIGA-278
  • ESL RMS-1T-KS-LP pull station (probably replaced a 278)
  • Fire-Lite BG-12 in the portables

Message and tone

Tone: EST whoop tone
Message: “There has been an emergency reported in the building. Leave the building immediately using marked stairways and exits. Do not use elevators.”

The tone plays the whoop twice followed by the message.

Here is a video of the alarms going off during a fire drill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kitLZXTuCUM

The horn strobes in the portables are set to temporal at low volume and are completely out of sync (there is only one horn strobe in each portable, and two pull stations)