I went to a Catholic school near downtown Akron (St. Vincent parish school) that was built in 1956. The original FA system was an IBM 4200/4240 series panel (I’ll have to look at some old photos) with 8 or 10 inch single stroke bells. I haven’t been there since before COVID. There was a pull rod with manual trip bells (used until the late 90s), and the actuator switch was a standard light switch, not a timed lever switch as seen in most of OSFA’s videos. The class changed bells are 6 inch vibrating bells, also IBM.
My dad’s school was on the west side of Akron (St. Sebastian parish school); it also had an IBM 4200 with the same components as my school. He went there in the 60s and 70s. NO PERSON TALKED DURING DRILLS, the nuns were very strict about it.
Both of those schools are still around today, but with modern Edwards FA systems.
My grandmother went to Our Lady of the Elms HS on Akron’s west side back in the early 1950s. That school was built in 1949 and I have no clue what the original fire alarm system was. It’s highly likely there was a pull rod. It was the HS until sometime in the 60s when the current HS was built. I was at the current one for a girls’ volleyball game. (My GF is on the team.) Regarding the FA system, the original one was a Simplex 4240 series with 4027 bells. I saw one on the exterior right next to the main entrance. I think the pull stations were 4251 – 1s. If there were any automatic detectors, they were possibly 4255s or 4262s (the latter are STATITROL units). The current system is also Simplex, a 4010 with respective annunciator. Initiating devices are 2099-9750 series pulls and TrueAlarm smoke sensors. The signals are electronic Simplex rectangular horn/strobes and remote strobes and TrueAlert horn/strobes and remote strobes.
Archbishop Hoban HS has the same system and hardware as the Elms. The original system was most likely an IBM or Autocall with pull rods and NY type coded pull stations. The signals were 10 inch single stroke bells.
I already documented STVM’s FA system, as that is my high school.
The Mitchell building on the west side of Akron has the same original system as the Elms (4027 bells (vibrating or single stroke), 4251-1 pulls, and a 4240 series panel.
Martin W. Essex ES has the same system as the previous two places.
So there you have it, a list of some old FA systems that are/were in my area.
I need to go to Ohio, seems there is a ton of old systems still in place, and I love my single stroke bell systems. I grew up with them, just before they started phasing them out in my area.
That’s amazing to hear! If you ever get those horn/light combos, I would absolutley love one. I bet that place is the one of the few places that has those.
I also have been trying to find some old Edwards Chimes. I believe some may be in an old hospital building near my house but unsure really.
My elementary school system consists of a Simplex 4001 panel, 6 Simplex 2901-9840 horns (one of them was put on the outside of the building and it died before I went there), 4 Simplex 2904-9101 strobes (there were five but one was removed when the cafeteria was redone), 1 Simplex 4903 horn strobe that was possibly removed, 2 Simplex 4904 remote strobes, a few ceiling mount Edwards Genesis horn strobes, Simplex T-bars for pull stations, possibly Edwards or Simplex heats, and no smokes except for the duct detectors.
My middle/high school system consists of a Simplex 4002 panel, 18 Simplex 2901-9840 horns, 2 Simplex 4903 horn strobes, 18 Simplex 2904-9101 strobes, 2 Simplex 4904 strobes, 5 Edwards Genesis horn strobes, 2 Edwards Genesis strobes, possibly 2 Simplex bells (I don’t know the model numbers. One is small and one is medium.), Simplex T-bars, Edwards 270-SPOs, and 1 EST Siga for pull stations, Simplex TrueAlarms for smokes, what appears to be Simplex 2098-9636 smokes inside red boxes for duct detectors, and many Edwards heats. There is also one Simplex heat in a storage room and the tech room.
My school building has an NFS-3030 with a DVC. The Notification appliances are all spectralert advance. Mostly they’re all white. A good majority of them are ceiling mount speaker strobes. There are also some wall mounted remote strobes in the newest part of the building, as well as wall mounted speaker strobes. In the main hallways, not all the notification appliances have strobes on them. Some are just speakers. In the stairways, there are ceiling mounted remote strobes. There are 6 SLC loops, with most likely 3 LCM-320s and 3 LEM-320s. Most of the devices are detectors. There are at least 2 pulls that I have seen. One by the main panel in the office, and one in the kitchen. Both are NBG-12LXs. The system was most likely installed late ‘00s - early ‘10s, during the spectralert advance era, but before the Notifier LCD2-80s were available. The system has at least 2 Notifier LCD-80s. If you want more info, I can provide some.
In my school, we have a Simplex 4100es voice evac panel. In the newer parts of the building we have the Simplex speaker strobes (4903-9357) with 4099-9006 pull stations. In the older part of the building there are simplex 4903-9148 speaker strobes. There are the truealarm smoke detectors in all buildings.
In the oldest part there is some sort of speaker that is behind a 2903-9001 light plate making me think that the school had some sort of simplex 2001/2120 with voice capabilities or even a Simplex 4100 classic that was removed and replaced with the 4100es (this is just speculation, as the 4100es was installed in 2011)
That is what is happening at my High school rn. my school is getting a new robotics stadium and they are expanding the system to the other parts as well. we used to have the EST EG1RF-HDVM horn strobes and EST speaker strobes in the gym. but now we are getting a full speaker strobe system with advances.
At my school we have Gentex Commander 3’s and Notifier BG-12’s. There is a Annunciator in the lobby, but I can’t locate the panel (It’s probably in a locked closet), even after checking the office and unlocked closets and electrical rooms when I was allowed to go in. The room had breakers and electrical feed line for the building so I was surprised. I have also seen Simplex vibratones in the hallways and common areas, but they are not in use and I’ve never heard them go off. As far as old pull stations, I’d guess they were removed and they put the new BG-12s where they once were.
I have Gentex commander 3s
4 of them in the high school gym and a few more scattered around my school
Lots and lots of 2nd and 1st generation SHGS
Lots of spectralert classics
And one. One. Edwards integrity as a sprinkler alarm
System sensor 2W-B smoke detectors
And system sensor 2400 smokes
And there is fire lite BG 12L pull stations
And fire lite BG10 pull stations
And really old smoke detectors in the middle school gym I have no clue what model
They look like Gentex home smoke detectors without the strobe
And a silent knight 5820XLCB alarm panel
And from what I know no annunciator.
FCI HEF/STW’s in hallways, and large rooms (gym, auditorium, cafeteria, library etc.)
FCI STW/4F’s in bathrooms
Pull stations:
FCI MS-2
ONE Fire-Lite BG-12L (replaced an MS-2)
Smoke detectors:
System Sensor 2400’s all throughout the building
Panel(s):
I am not sure what the main panel is, it is inside a locked utility closet. Likely FCI
An Audiosone voice evac panel in the cafeteria… there are no speaker strobes in the school but me and others have definitely heard a “whoop” sound in the cafeteria during fire drills.
Here are the alarms I remember from I was in school:
Elementary school
There was a Notifier LNG-1R pull station right next to the panel in the main office. I don’t remember what brand the panel was, but my guess is it could’ve been Notifier; and the system was from the '80s. Notification signals were all Wheelock 7002Ts (indoor) and 34Ts (outdoor). However, I remember seeing polaroid photos of the school taken in the early 80s (before there was a fire at the school), and the signals were open-grille 7002s at the time. The music room had a 34T-WS. I remember one day in kindergarten I was in the general music class, and we had a fire drill that day; when the alarm went off, the horn didn’t skip at all when the strobe flashed. The portables also probably had 34T-WS horn strobes, as I recall not hearing any skipping when they went off.
Middle school
Pull station was a Notifier LNG-1R, also located in the main office near the panel. Signals were again mostly 7002Ts and 34Ts (some devices even had the narrow “FIRE” lettering typically seen on the open-grille models). The gymnasium/music wing had one outdoor Simplex 2901-9806 interestingly. The portables had System Sensor PA400s, but one portable had Wheelock MIZ-24-WS mini horn strobes.
High school
The A, B, C, and D wings had Gentex Commander 3s (set to code-3 horn) that were installed in the summer of 2004, right before I started my freshman year. I remember there being 7002Ts before then. E wing (where most freshman core classes were held) still had 7002Ts and one open-grille 7002 that was rebranded by Fire-lite. The science wing, which was built around 2001, had SpectrAlert classics. The library also had 7002Ts (there was a flush-mounted Simplex 4050/4051 from an older system but was disconnected). Also, the auxiliary gym and a fitness room that used to be a swimming pool had 7002Ts. And the main gym had SpectrAlert classics in the locker rooms and a white 7002T in the lobby. Music building also had 7002Ts. P wing had GEC3s set to whoop. Pull station was a Fire-Lite BG-10, and the panel was newer (I remember sophomore year when the assistant principal allowed me to activate the alarm for a fire drill, it took a few seconds for the notification appliances to sound after activating the pull station). All outdoor signals were Wheelock 34Ts.
My senior year, a few more 7002Ts were replaced by GEC3s (one in the freshman wing, and the ones in the auxiliary gym). In the library, GEC3s were installed in the computer labs, but the main part of the library still had 7002Ts.
