Here’s the topic where I’ll post about UMass Boston’s systems.
Well, it finally happened.
I found out today that my old high schools fire alarm system was replaced. This came as quite of a shock to me, as I would think they would have waited since they keep talking about building a new school. But yeah, the 6500 is now gone, which is a huge shame because I really wanted to preserve it, mainly the march time strip. I have no idea what is in place at the moment, but I’ll definitely find out.
I do believe they kept everything else in place, single stroke bells and all. I found out when I emailed the school board about preserving the system. So maybe there is some hope with preserving some old 23 fire bells.
My school has a Notifier addressable system, and I can tell that the panel is either a NFS-3030, or an NFS2-3030, because of the 2 annunciators they have.
So, after putting this off for a long time, I wanted to talk a little bit about my work’s alarm systems when they get activated.
For those that don’t already know, I work in a medical facility with a series of buildings built over the years. Across all the buildings, there are a mix of Simplex 4100 and 4120 voice-evac panels installed in the mid-1990s, but the actual sounds they use depend on the building.
The main building I work in has a Simplex 4100 panel; when it goes into alarm, it starts with two chimes, goes into a voice-evac message for about two or three rounds (I don’t exactly remember how the message sounds), then sounds in a continuous whoop (the Simplex 4003 version) until silenced. On a couple of occasions when the system was being tested, it would start with the whoop first. There are no chimes/tones prior to a staffer making an announcement through the speakers.
With the exception of my main building and possibly a connected administration wing, the rest of the facility does the following: When it goes into alarm, it starts with a continuous tone (not a chime), then plays a message depending on where the alarm was activated (or in the case of one false alarm I experienced, a water pressure drop) two or three times, before going into a temporal (code-3) chime until silenced. If an announcement is made over the fire alarm speakers, it starts with the continuous tone, then plays two chimes beforehand.
My High School I believe has a Notifier NFS2-3030. A/Vs are System Sensor SpectrAlert Advances (Of course) I have actually seen a System Sensor SCRL. For smoke detectors, there are FSP-851s, and one FSP-951 on a base meant for an FSP-851 (which makes it very ugly in my opinion). There are a few Heat Detectors, which are FST-851s. Pull stations are NBG-12LXs.
UPDATE: I discovered this year (2023) that the gym at my high school has 6 SpectrAlert Classics. However, one of them has to get replaced because we did a fire drill and one of them was dead unfortunately.
The alarms at my elementary school got an upgrade! When I went there, it had an EST-2 system with GE-branded SIGA-PS detectors, SIGA-270 pull stations, and GE-branded Integrity horn/strobes and single-gang remote strobes.
When I went on a walk around my neighborhood, which is close to my school, I walked past the school and noticed that those have all stayed the same, but in place of the EST-2, an iO-series panel takes its place, likely either an iO-500 or iO-1000. I’m leaning toward the former since the EST-2 tops out at 192 detectors and 188 modules (380 devices total) and I don’t believe any new initiating devices or other SLC devices were added.
I am supposing that the original system, which was coded to continuous, is now in code-3, and I kinda wonder what fire drills at the school are like now.
I remember being so scared of that system as a kid, and part of that fear sparked my interest in fire alarm systems and ultimately what would become my career in fire protection and safety engineering technology, so it’s a little sad to see the original system gone, but I kinda think that the iO series is some of EST’s best work, so it’s more bittersweet than anything. Part of me also wishes that I had been there to at least ask for the old EST-2, if anything to serve as a shelf piece. I don’t know if the original cabinet has been reused and a retrofit kit took its place, so maybe that was not possible, but this upgrade must have happened between 2017 and now.
The school I work at has Simplex TrueAlerts.
when we had our first fire drill of 2022 earlier today… guess what i just heard in person… an old edwards genesis with the integrity horn on it!
however the old genesis is only on the other side of the building and the rest of the fire alarms are those annoying high pitched genesises. when the fire alarm went off the new ones just scared the heck out of me. i feel like that the genesis in my teen leadership class is much louder than the rest of the building. wanna know why? we were in the t shacks at that time…
by the way all of the pull stations are edwards 278b’s and most of the smoke detectors are the newer signature series smoke detectors. by the way one of my friends was going to the bathroom by the time the fire alarm started to go off. i’ll tell u this: most of the bathrooms in the school have horn strobes in them. if i ever had a fire drill when i’m taking a [ __ ] it’ll be my worst nightmare ever
and also my band class has those gentex gos’es. they were ten times quieter than that genesis chirp
The old Genesis horn/strobes don’t sound exactly like Integrity horn/strobes, they have their own sound.
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yeah it kinda sounds like the integrity but it’s actually kinda different. the difference is that the pitch is higher on this one
In my school:
NAs:
Simplex TrueAlerts in the main academic buildings set on code 3
Wheelock MT horns on all exterior walls (and a ceiling mount, indoor MT horn/strobe on an outdoor wall), all set on continuous
Faraday/FOS horn/strobes and remote strobes in the gym building and the rotunda building. I haven’t heard them before, but I assume that they are on code 3
Some weatherproof Gentex Commander 2 horns (one red, one white), probably also on code 3
A couple of sprinkler bells (I don’t know the manufacturer or model, likely Wheelock) outside. They are likely on continuous.
Unknown panel: likely Simplex
Annunciators: The only one I have seen is a Radionics annunciator by the door to the gym
Pull stations:
Simplex T-bars in the library, cafeteria, and by the elevators
A few Edwards 270-SPOs in the gym
A rebranded Bosch dual action pull station in the gym (More details in another post of mine: Bay Alarm pull station - #8 by SpruceParsleyAlarms )
I don’t know if this counts, but an Ansul or similar fire suppression pull station in the kitchen
A Potter FA-50 on the outdoor patio which is kinda yellowed.
Some FCI MS-2s in an academic building
Detectors:
Likely Simplex, but I haven’t been able to look closely at the detectors
The fire alarm system at St. Vincent-St. Mary high school in Akron, Ohio
Here is the link to a fire drill and photographic system tour at my HS!
Alarms are Simplex 4050s (rare black label variant) and operate on 6VAC. Panel is a Simplex 4247-2. Initiating devices are 4251-20 series pulls and 4255 series heat sensors. There are a few replacement pull stations for broken 4251 along with an Edwards 270 in the stairway by the gym to the girls’ locker room.
Update: OSFA recently checked it out!
Another update: As of December 12, 2022, I got expelled for behavioral/mental health issues; my grades are fine. I will be transferring to a public high school in Akron (Paul W. Litchfield JHS/Harvey S. Firestone HS, which is closer and not a waste of gas money; they also have a swimming pool!!). Regarding the fire alarm system, it is a Honeywell system with BG-12 pulls; signals are System Sensor P2/4R(K)s and SR(K)s, SPSRs in the auditorium on a Notifier VE system. JUNK SYSTEM! The building was built in 2016 and is also total JUNK!!
The original building was built in 1962 and you’ve all seen OSFA’s video on that school. (My dad and his brothers grew up a few blocks away from the original Firestone/Litchfield academic complex. Both buildings had Standard Electric Time FA systems.) The pool from the original building still exists.
Final update: STVM just got designated as an Ohio historic landmark!! It may become a national one in a few years.
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BUILDING A UPDATE: Every single NBG-10 and many 2400s have been replaced by NBG-12s and FSP-951s respectively. One hallway has them all completely replaced, and another has the old 2400 detectors installed on -951 bases they JUST replaced all those with -951 heads like 2 minutes ago i watched it happen LOL. No notification appliances have been touched, though one was unwired and dangled from the ceiling for a week and then was put back up. Hope the alarms can stay for a little while longer since ceiling mounted EHs are extremely rare. Maybe a collector can salvage them!
My predictions are that the new N/As will be ceiling mount L-Series speaker/strobes since there’s already a good amount of them in the classrooms, unlike the rest of campus where it’s all E-90s. Though unlike how the new initiating devices were installed on top of the old ones (even the pull stations which i’m not sure their height above the ground is ADA compliant) the fire alarms themselves would have to be completely reinstalled because of the spacing between the EHs (only one horn strobe and one strobe in the longest hallway).
EDIT: THE NOTIFICATION APPLIANCES ARE WHEELOCK ELUXA LED SPEAKER STROBES THERES A INSANE AMOUNT OF ELSPSTW AND ELSPSTWC BOXES LETS GOOOOO
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At my school, we have Edwards/EST Genesis G1-HDVM horn strobes, G1-VM strobes, (inside) Edwards/EST Integrity horn strobes (outside) Edwards/EST Siga 270-SPO pull stations, and Edwards/EST Siga PS smoke detectors, without bases, but in the portable classrooms, with bases. (In portables)
At my school, we have Edwards/EST Genesis G1-HDVM horn strobes, Edwards/EST G1-VM strobes, Edwards/EST 270-SPO pull stations, Edwards/EST EST3 Panel, Edwards/EST Siga-PS smoke detectors (without bases), and 2 more (in portables, with bases).
In my high school in China:
We have Beida Jade Bird fire systems installed in all the buildings on campus - main buildings, dorms, the canteen and the gym etc. Unlike the “Triple rings and a pause” sound which is common in American-style systems, fire-fighting wailing tones (just as what fire truck sirens blast) are used in horn-strobes…personally I suppose that this sort of sound is more distinctive and could hardly be confused with other types of alarms. Nobody doubt that fire truck screams denote a fire starting. Our pull stations are not activated by actually “pulling” something but, in fact, pressing on a piece of plastic. That’s not favorable cuz it increases the possibility that a false alarm is caused by mistakenly hitting on the station. An emergency broadcasting system is also installed, simply telling something like “Ladies and gentleman, there is an emergency situation. Please evacuate from the nearest exit in an orderly fashion, and do not use the elevators. Thanks for your cooperation.” and then a piece of record of air-raid siren blasts.
Our fire alarms are different in our high school. By the main entrance is simplex. Then there are single stroke bells and pull stations I cant identify some of the newer add on’s to north penn high school have simplex trualert voice and horns
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For the school I go to, (currently) we have U-MMT-S17(S) horn strobes, U-S17(S) strobes (most commonly anyway), SK-PHOTO detectors (a few have been replaced with SK-PHOTO-W’s), SK-PULL-DA pull stations, and a Silent Knight 6820 addressable system.
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Did this ever replace a Siemens system, by any chance?
My school has System Sensor L-Series in operation. It also has a few inactive old horn strobes and bells. I will post the inactive ones in a help post once I get photos.