What is a Municipal Fire Alarm System?

MeyerFire University | FA302.03

​By Al Yakel, SET

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RESOURCES

FA100 SERIES

RESOURCES

NOTES & SUMMARY

• One-Page Summary [PDF]
• Notes Page [PDF]

​
CODE & STANDARD REFERENCES

• NFPA 72 – 2022: 3.3.118.3 Definition of a Municipal Fire Alarm System

FA100 SERIES

1. What is a fire alarm system?
2. Components of a fire alarm system?
3. What questions does an AHJ want concerning fire alarm?
4. What are the different types of fire alarm systems?
5. Different types of Protected Premises Systems?
6. What is a Municipal fire alarm system?
7. What is single- and multi-station fire alarm?
8. Crossword Challenge: Fire Alarm Terminology
9. What are household and combination systems?

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TRANSCRIPT

What is a municipal fire alarm system? 

INTRO

In this series, we are focusing on the different types of fire alarm systems.  

In our last video, we discussed the protected premises fire alarm systems. Today, we’re gonna focus on municipal fire alarm systems.

Created by Moses Farmer and Dr. William Channing in the mid 1800’s, the first municipal fire alarm was put into service in Boston around 1851. Municipal fire alarm systems are the granddaddy of the industry.  

EXPENSIVE SYSTEM

Primarily manufactured by Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Co., approximately 500 cities and towns across the United Sates had Gamewell systems installed by 1890. 

Today, only a handful of cities including Boston, New York City and San Francisco continue to use municipal fire alarm systems at a price tag north of $3 Million to maintain the system. 

DEFINITION

Although the technology is considered old and outdated by many based upon the advancements in cellular communications, the system is very reliable as it operates separately from electric and telephone lines, and isn’t affected by power outages, cell phone reception, radio interference or downed power lines. 

So, what is a municipal fire alarm system? 

It’s a collection of basic mechanical components that directly connect urban locations with local fire departments. It’s like a fire alarm system but for a city rather than a building. Today, they are very rare, but NFPA 72 still keeps this definition and requirements for them as part of the standard. 

DIFFERENT TYPES

Municipal fire alarm systems consist of: 

Street Boxes

• T Handle box and or pull box located on street corners or telephone polls
• When pulled, a telegraph wheel taps out a message which is sent to the receiving board announcing the box number 

Master Boxes

• Connected to schools, hospitals and other important buildings 

600-volt DC Power Supply Board

• Original designs were powered by street cars which charged large batteries called laden batteries for after-hours operation  

Receiving Board

• McCullough circuits 
• Box numbers up to 40 boxes per circuit 
• Illuminated light signals 
• Code punch register or pen recorder (which are now handled by computers) 
• And a re-transmitter to send alarm signal to the closest fire station 

All components are mechanical in nature which provides a reliability and redundancy which the communities that do still have these systems say is the reason why they keep them. 

The main issue other than cost of maintaining a municipal fire alarm system is the issue of false alarms. Based on recent statistics, only 20% percent of the annual calls received are for legitimate emergencies.

SUMMARY

In summary, a municipal fire alarm system is a collection of mechanical components which has its roots dating back to the 1800’s. There are only a few active systems remaining in the country so you will most likely never encounter this type of system unless you are in San Francisco, Boston, or New York. Other than that, you can see them in a museum or purchase one for yourself on EBAY. Hopefully for a lot less than $3M!

We hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. 

In our next video, we will discuss residential fire alarm systems.

Until next time, I am Al Yakel and this is Meyer Fire University