Alright, I’ve done my research and FINALLY as i’ve strengthened out my fire alarm knowledge I can safely say exactly what fire alarms are in my Elementary - High ! Lets go! (letters in front of school names represent the district) also sorry for blocks of text
“A” Elementary - This school has a Simplex 4002 system with 4903-9219 horn/strobes in all areas of the campus. This does include small one-off offices and BATHROOMS!!! excluding newer additions and renovations which have early Simplex TrueAlerts (same grille, design, and logo, but no name branding). These alarms are original to the building and have not been replaced, side for maybe some horns getting replaced by 4906s. Smoke detectors are 2098 series and pulls are 2099 duel action, however it wouldn’t surprise me if TrueAlarms and 4099s are in some areas.
“A” Intermediate - This campus actually connects to the elementary! Devices are similar to “A” Elementary except this time newer TrueAlerts, TrueAlarms, and 4099 duels are original to the building. Weirdly enough the installation is as sparse as the previous building even though it was built about 5-10 years later. The Panel is likely a 4100U, for primary schools both buildings are massive. Will say, the installers were nicer so some classrooms, bathrooms and smaller spaces get remote strobes.
“A” Junior High now - Alright, time for a History lesson… but not yet! Currently the school has a newer Silent Knight System with Gentex Commander 3 and 4 horn/strobes, with the latter being more common, even in the gymnasiums! Initiator-wise, pulls are Duel Action RSGs and smoke detectors are actually a mix between newer Silent Knight SD-505s and older Edwards 5600 heats. Unfortunately, these alarms aren’t original to the system. But these ones are.
“A” Junior High then - the system was ancient as it was Edwards. fire alarms were mostly Gentex GMS horn/strobes in the hallways, locker rooms, and cafeteria, though some mightve been SHGs. GX-90 minihorn/strobes were everywhere else. In some parts of the building, there were Commander 1 horn/strobes, Commander 3 horn/strobes and strobes could be found in a study area off the library. In specific unrenovated areas of the building and other unfortunate spaces, there housed Federal Signal 450D horns with VALS strobe covers. Yes, this was basically Simplex -9806 horns in tiny classrooms. And last, but not Least, one SAE horn/strobe plate with a red light could be found ironically by the room with the newer Commander 3s. It actually took me a few years to remember what that large rectangular device was on the wall by my locker until i found a pic LOL. Anyways, initiating devices were really old Edwards heat and smoke detectors, along with the 5600s i mentioned above, and pulls were rustier RSGs, though they were single action. (Sad news: all of these devices are gone…)
“B” Junior High - I didn’t go to this school although we did take a field trip here for a band performance. From what I remember, there were vertical 4903s, horizontal 4903s, and TrueAlerts. Cannot recall for the life of me what the initiating devices were but they were probably older Simplex. However nowadays as I saw them pop up on facebook, there’s Wheelock E90 red speaker/strobes around, with E70s in the gym. yes it was the same school (scoreboard and colors around the building). Initiating devices are probably a Honeywell brand, so BG-12s and SD-355s (maybe -365s?)
“C” High now - This school has two buildings: A West building and an East building. Neither of these systems are original so that means I’ll have to talk about this place twice.
Right, so for the West building there is a Siemens Firefinder controlling everything. Most of the building has Siemens ZH-MC-CRs around, though in certain areas there’s wall mounts as well. Around the gym wing, there were some leftover devices i’ll talk about later, but they were all taken out the year before quarantine. Initiating devices are all OP121 smoke detectors with a couple newer generation FirePrints (thicker grille) on high ceilings and art/cooking rooms. Pulls are all MSM-K single action stations. All outdoor alarms are rebranded ASWPs.
For the other building, the same exact Firefinder type system was installed, though the devices are just a tad different. As it was 2018 when they were replaced, code now specified at least voice evac be required in educational buildings. Though, “C” High took it a step further. Devices are, and this is a mouthful, "SET-CMC-CW-MNS-ALR"s. Basically the Wheelock E90 but white, clear strobe, and ALERT lettering instead of fire. In some parts of the building there are wall mounts, though they are much rarer than any wall mounting in the west building. You can also find remote speakers in the hallways with the SETs in a patternlike installation. Pool, locker rooms, and the rooftop classes had the weatherproof version of the SET (both wall and ceiling mount, ALERT lettering). For initiating devices, pulls are also MSM-Ks, though smoke detectors are both OP121 in front of fire doors & OOHCs everywhere else, which do both smoke and carbon monoxide detection allowing mass notification. (tone is continuous followed by CO message as apposed to code-3).
“C” High then - As I said, both buildings’ current systems arent original, so now i have to talk about what was.
Starting with the West building, the main alarm was the Cerberus Pyrotronics MTL horn/strobe. They were really only found in the hallways, cus the installers were super strobe-happy and put S15-S’s everywhere else, including side hallways and the entirety of the old cafeteria. Yeah… LOL, you had to be in a bad spot to get your ears blasted. The secondmost common alarm was the U-MMT, which was located in the commons areas, though some MCS strobes were found in one-off rooms and an entire wing of classes. The third most common alarm was the Siemens AS, which called home to a MASSIVE learning center in the middle of campus. Its strobe counterpart was the early ZR series. Replacement alarms for all types were the HS series (horizontal strobe one-tone MTs) and ZHs though they were only wallmounts. Some desolate areas in the school had Pyr-A-Larm HDC-24Cs, which unless there were any bells mightve been the original alarms of the building. At least 8 of them were still active before the switch to a FireFinder, based on the lack of MTL backboxes in some hallways. And finally i’m gonna assume this was a cheap renovation, but the main gym (aka the Sports Center) had SpectrAlert Classic horn/strobes and strobes. Dunno why, since everything else was CP and Siemens, but I’m assuming budget had a play in that. so, that tallies to AT LEAST 10 different notification device types in the building, wow. Pull stations were mostly MS-51s rebranded by likely every stage of CP and Siemens, and smoke detectors were probably everything in the catalouge, especially DI-series and older FirePrints. Panels probably an old CP judging by an outdated annunciator that still stood by the front desk.
Going over to the East Building, everything switches back to simplex (panel was 4100 series but idk what it was). Most devices were 2901-9846s on 4903-9105 strobe plates that smelled really bad when they went off LOL. Classrooms had 4904-9105s. Other half of the building Had TrueAlert horn/strobes and strobes, along with very little Wheelock Exceders. Replacement devices were a 4901 box horn with a new TrueAlert sounding piezo and a -9845. In the locker rooms, there were Wheelock weatherproof MTs, however they kept the -9846/9105 horn/strobes and -9105 remote strobes in the pool room for some reason, and none of them looked really good 
. Initiating devices were all TrueAlarms, though considering some of the Pull stations were 2099s i’ll bet either there was no smoke detection before or they were 2098s, since there was very little fire detection before the system change.
so thats everything! i’ll update if anything from these systems change. right now i’m betting my high school’s west building might flip to mass notification in a year or two since theres a lot of work going on to fix some mechanical issues with the building in general. see you guys soon!
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, as the hallway signals aren’t close enough to them to provide adequate coverage.
