Fire alarm call box

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Fire alarm box in Ridgewood, New Jersey

A fire alarm box, fire alarm call box or fire alarm pull box is an outdoor device used for notifying a fire department of a fire. Early boxes used the telegraph system and were the main method of calling the fire department to a neighborhood in the days before people had telephones. When the box is triggered, a spring-loaded wheel spins and taps out a signal onto the fire alarm telegraph wire, indicating the box number. The receiver at a fire station then can match the number to the neighborhood. Unmanned or volunteer departments would instead have a Diaphone horn that sounded the box number. The boxes are a form of street furniture still in service in many places, though many towns and cities have removed them due to cost of maintaining the obsolete system. This action has been blocked by courts in New Jersey, where the boxes are seldom used for any purpose bar making hoax calls.[1]


The first practical fire alarm system utilizing the telegraph system was developed by Dr. William Channing and Moses G. Farmer in 1852.[2] Two years later, they applied for a patent for their "Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities". In 1855, John Gamewell of South Carolina purchased regional rights to market the fire alarm telegraph, later obtaining the patents and full rights to the system in 1859. John F. Kennard bought the patents from the government after they were seized after the Civil War, returned them to Gamewell, and formed a partnership, Kennard and Co., in 1867 to manufacture the alarm systems. The Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Co. was later formed in 1879. Gamewell systems were installed in 250 cities by 1886 and 500 cities in 1890. By 1910, Gamewell had gained a 95% market share.[3]

Usefulness during communications disruptions[edit]

If the power is out, people may not be able to charge batteries in portable phones, and VoIP telephony typically will not work without power. The telegraph alarm boxes, however, are powered from a separate supply and will likely continue to work in the face of outages of both electrical and telephone systems.[2]


  1. ^ Shifrel, Scott (August 15, 2011). "Federal judge rules against city in bid to take down costly street fire alarm boxes for the deaf". New York Daily News. 
  2. ^ a b Sweeney, Emily (January 27, 2008). "No cause for alarm". Boston Globe. 
  3. ^ "Our History". Gamewell-FCI. 

External links[edit]