My elementary school had a Simplex 4007es that replaced a 4002. The system had Simplex addressable initiation devices but they left the old 2901-9838 horns on 4903-9105 strobe plates. They also had portables that had Simplex Truealert horn strobes in them. All signals at that school were set on continuous. My current school has a Simplex 4100u voice evac system. The school was built in 2008 with that system. Throughout the school, there are wall mounted Simplex Truealert speaker strobes. In the classrooms in the original part of the school, there are no signals. This is bad because it extremely hard to tell that the system is going off when the door is closed and students are taking. In the additions, (2009 and 2018) they have ceiling mount Truealert remote strobes in the classrooms and the same speaker strobes in the hallways. They added Truealert horn strobes outside on the 2018 addition. All signals are conventional and the horns outside are set to continuous. Funnily enough, the first time I ever saw this system in action was for a fire drill but I was outside for gym class so I didn’t get to hear the voice evac that time.
My school’s alarms:
Notification Appliances:
- Gentex GX-90S’s in classrooms
- FCI HEF/STW’s in hallways, and large rooms (gym, auditorium, cafeteria, library etc.)
- FCI STW/4F’s in bathrooms
…
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.
In this case it’s likely that the older Faraday “horn/strobes” (FCI rebranded these) in the cafe and other large rooms are actually speaker/strobes. Faraday used the same housing for both.
My daycare/preschool/church building was built in the 1920’s. I believe it had a pull rod system built into the wall as there are some very suspicious looking cover plates on the walls in the very oldest part of the building where one would most likely be. It has long since been replaced though and they now have an addressable Simplex system with TrueAlerts and Wheelock NS’s and RSS’s.
My high school was built in 1959. It has three buildings and a stadium on campus. Our history goes like this:
- 1959 – ___ High School (9-12) was built
- 1961 – East wing classrooms added to provide space for grades 7 & 8.
- 1962 – Industrial Education Shop and 10 classrooms added
- 1962 – Football Field and Track added behind ___ Elementary
- 1966 – Gymnasium (now the Learning Center), Classrooms and offices added.
- 1967 – West foyer added
- 1974 – High School and Junior High School were connected
- 1980 – Classroom addition
- 1999 – New Gymnasium and Auditorium added
- 2006 – Colton Center added
- 2010 – Classroom renovation-Video Production Studio added
- 2011 – ___ Stadium constructed
- 2012 – Aquatic Center constructed
- 2013 – Baseball/Softball Complex constructed on the ___ Campus
- 2016 – Classroom additions, Commons spaces added, extensive renovation
Not noted in here is the construction of building B in the late 30s. This is the original K-8 school building that was then turned into an elementary school until 2009. In 2009, it was replaced with a new school, and the old building became part of the high school campus.
Main building:
The original systems were all Simplex AC systems. This is the only device left of one of the old systems (disconnected)
In 1995, they replaced every single system in the district and switched to Notifier. The high school was outfitted with an AM-2020 fire alarm system. The smoke detectors were System Sensor 9200 style detectors. These were the only conventional devices on the system as the pull stations are all addressable BGX-101L’s, along with addressable heat and duct detection. The notification appliances of choice in every building are System Sensor MA12/24 horns mount either directly above, or next to a Gentex GXS remote strobe. At my school, the horns are set on Hi/Lo, and the strobes are all 177 candela. Please note that outside, an MA12/24 outdoor model horn was placed at every exit.
When the 1999 areas were built, they decided to use an entirely addressable model: BGX-101L’s and FSI-751’s are the most prominent devices on the system. The alarms utilized are SpectrAlert models. All P2415/75 horn/strobes and S12/24 remote strobes. Every model is 15/75 candela, and horns are on the standard temporal tone. For outdoor alarms, a SpectrAlert horn was installed with a strobe directly adjacent.
In 2007, another addition was conducted that introduced, SpectrAlert advances, FSP-851’s, and NBG-12LX’s! The signaling devices were mostly P2R’s and SR’s, but a handful of PC2W’s were also installed. At this time, many classrooms that had previously not had an alarm got one. Some were added into hallways too. This addition made the fire alarm system quite hectic in the building, because in most areas, in addition to the awful out of sync MA horns, there are also out of sync Advances ringing away in temporal.
In 2016, the last major addition was completed. During this addition, the panel was replaced with an NFS2-3030. The addition used the same devices as the 2007 areas, however all of the 2016 areas are 100% synchronized unlike the rest of the school. This addition also added nine LCD-160 annunciators to the school! Outdoor alarms in these areas are all P2RK’s.
Please note that these are just a few pictures of an extremely complex system.
LRC:
Built in the late 30s, I’m not aware of this systems origins at all; no original components left over. However, in 1995, the system was replaced with a Notifier AFP-400 that still stands today. There is an older Notifier annunciator at one of the exits. Pull stations are BGX-101L’s, smoke detectors are system sensor 9200 system detectors, and notification devices are System Sensor MA12/24 horns on 800hz continues, mounted adjacent to a Gentex, 177 candela, GXS strobe.
Aquatic Center:
Built in 2012, this system is a Notifier NFS2-640 with DVC. Same SLC devices as the other systems from this period. Notification appliances are SPSW’s, SPW’s, and SPSCW’s.
Stadium:
The stadium has an NFS2-3030 system with your typical 2010s Notifier SLC devices. Horn strobes are P2RK’s and strobes are SR’s in restrooms. Upon alarms, the stadium speakers play an evacuation message as well.
Hope everyone found these systems on my schools campus interesting! And in case you are wondering, during scheduled drills, each system is tripped simultaneously.
Interesting system evolution. (Off topic, but the World Dryer AirForce is cool too)
nice shots with the strobes
That picture with the cage over the MA horn but not the Gentex strobe below it seems odd as it seems like the strobe would be much more fragile than the horn.
Well so a fun fact about this area! Up until 1999, this area was actually two gyms. In 1999, it was converted into a library, and a fourth cafeteria space. This device is in a large, unusual storage closet that at one point would’ve been one of the exits to the old auxiliary gym. This is why those doors are open, and there’s a very old exit sign that doesn’t appear to be functioning anymore. This storage closet also has the original, gym-height ceilings, making it all that’s left of the old gym. At one point, you can tell where covers were over the strobe and pull station, however they were removed over the years. I don’t know why the horn one hasn’t been removed though.
My school has a very interesting old system, but a normal current system:
Old System:
- Panel: Some sort of a 60s Edwards panel
- Pulls: “LOCAL ALARM” 270-SPOs (they are still there)*
- Horns: Vintage gray Adaptahorns (still there)*
New System:
- Panel: Fire-Lite MS-5UD
- Pulls: BG-12s and one lone BG-10
- Detectors: i3s
- Signals: Advances
*- they are now disconnected
That seems kind of risky to leave disconnected pulls on the wall. In a fire, someone may try to pull one of them and nothing will happen.
At the very least, disconnected pull stations should be painted/covered/posted with signage reading “No longer in use” - but this should be a temporary band-aid pending their removal. This is especially important if the new pulls are in different locations from the old ones.
That being said, in older buildings, they shouldn’t just rush to rip stuff out, especially if it’s flush-mounted.
The reason? Asbestos.
It’s in the wall, it’s in the ceiling, it’s all over the place in older buildings.
Asbestos is serious! It can cause lung scarring (asbestosis) which can lead to death. It can also cause cancer (such as mesothelioma), and the symptoms may not manifest for years or even decades after exposure.
Because of how dangerous it is, there are a lot of laws and regulations about asbestos, particularly in schools.
try and salvage the original system and put it in a fire museum. (are the signaling devices flush mounted? If they are, you should salvage the wall housing (back box) that comes with it as many collectors do not often salvage it when they remove it.)
The Edwards old fire horns are not flush mounted (disconnected) and the 270-SPOs may be connected.
ask the maintenance staff if you could have the old system.
I’ve never heard of this at all. Well, I know asbestos can be dangerous, but it is usually found in building materials like insulation or certain ceiling tiles. Removing an old alarm won’t expose any asbestos. Maybe more if it is ceiling mounted, but not wall mounted.
I know we had to deal with it once in a hospital we service. The old wing still has asbestos ceiling tiles.
For the most part, FSP and FST 851s. There are some 951s that replaced some dead detectors.
Updated version!!
I have posted on this topic previously, but now that I have started at a new school that has multiple buildings, I wanted to remake this post…
So, my new school has multiple separate buildings of varying ages. Two are brand-new buildings, while a couple of the others have been around for decades now, and have been renovated over time. So, here is the updated alarm info:
Building 1 (the oldest building, refurbished in early 2000s)
- Notifier addressable Panel of some sort
- Notifier NBG-12LX pull stations protected by stoppers throughout
- Gentex Commander 3 Horn Strobes (even in the bathrooms #firealarmfail)
- Fire-Lite SD355 Smoke Detectors
Building 2 (newest building, built in the 2010s)
- EST3 Panel
- EST SIGA-278 Pull Stations (protected by stoppers)
- EST Genesis Wall-Mount Speaker Strobes, which make the default EST3 Fast Code 3.
- I haven’t seen smoke detectors
Building 3 (built early 2000s)
- Simplex Panel of some sort (4603 annunciator in lobby)
- Dual-Action Simplex 2099 pull stations
- and TrueAlert Horn Strobes
And that’s all I know of! It’s also worth mentioning that they use a Simplex synchronized clock system throughout the campus.
I posted some of this information before(it was one of my first posts) but I decided to share this information again because I feel that the old post was not very good and that post is also kind of outdated as quite a bit has changed in my school district since then.
My school district uses Simplex systems in all but one building. The one building that does not have Simplex is an elementary school that was built in 2014 with and addressable Siemens system. Other than that one, the newest elementary school in the district was opened in 1995.(Not true anymore) All of these elementary schools have been upgraded to simplex 4007es’. In the 1995 school, they left the original notification appliances (simplex 2901-9838’s on 4903-9105 strobe plates) but replaced all of the initiating devices with addressable Simplex devices. In all of the other elementary schools, they upgraded to TrueAlert ES horn strobes. They also just added a new elementary school in my district that has a Simplex voice evac system. Im guessing that it is probably a Simplex 4007es paired with a 4003ec because the speakers are all conventional and it is not a huge building but it could also possibly be a 4100es. (I don’t see that being very probable because that panel would be WAY oversized for that building.
The middle school was opened in 2008 with a Simplex 4100u equipped with voice evac throughout the entire school. The system has been added on to, but is still pretty much the same to this day.
The high school was opened in 1957. I have no idea what the original system was, but it was replaced with a Cerberus Pyrotronics system sometime in the 80’s or 90’s. This used rebranded Wheelock devices such as 7002t’s and MT’s. Sometime (probably around the time the middle school was built) they upgraded to a Simplex 4100u. They left the existing notification appliances but replaced the initiating devices with addressable Simplex devices. The system is still the same to this day but they have replaced a few of the old Wheelock devices that have failed over the years with different devices. My school district mostly used Edwards in the 90’s so there are a few Integrities. There are also some free run Simplex TrueAlerts on continuous that have replaced failing Wheelock 7002t’s in the past few years.
There are also two other buildings on the high school’s property. One is a building from the 90’s that houses the district offices and a pool that is used for the community as well as high school classes. This building was built with what I’m assuming was a Simplex 4004 system. It had Simplex 4903 mechanical horn strobes and 4904 remote strobes as the signals. A wile back, they added some classrooms for an additional school program and a gymnasium to the building. They upgraded the panel to a Simplex 4007es. They kept the original NA’s in the original part of the building and added Simplex TrueAlerts in the new parts. They also upgraded all of the original initiation devices to addressable ones and added addressable ones to the new part. I’m guessing that this system is somehow connected to the main high school 4100u but I don’t know.
The other one is a building from around the same time period that was a hockey arena but now houses basketball courts and wrestling rooms. The system is some sort of Cerberus Pyrotronics 4 zone system. The building is fully sprinkled and has Cerberus Pyrotronics pull stations that look very similar to the modern addressable versions. The NA’s are rebranded Faraday 6226w horn strobes, Faraday 524-77-SA remote strobes, Cerberus Pyrotroics U-HN-S17 horn strobes, and U-S17 remote strobes. I’m guessing the newer strobes and horn strobes were replacements. Despite the building being completely remodeled and its use case being completely changed a few years ago, this system is still in use to this day.
There is currently a new high school being built that is set to open at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Upon finishing the new high school, they will demolish the old one. The two other buildings will be saved as they are still in good condition (unlike the high school which is literally starting to collapse) and are still being used, and renovated. I’m guessing that the new high school will use a Simplex 4100es voice evac system.
In between jobs right now. At my previous work there were were System Sensor classic horn/strobes and a combination of BG-12 (including ones reading “AGENT”) and a couple ADT dual-action pulls. In the plant area, instead of horn/strobes there were ADT sirens until the system in both parts got an upgrade to the L-series including ceiling-mounted. As an artifact, throw in some older disconnected Wheelock 702T alarms.
