Comments
homerule t1_iuft2ek wrote
Thank you for sharing! I’ve always wondered.
EC_dwtn t1_iufyt6o wrote
This is how it worked pretty much everywhere. The nomenclature of box alarms, box areas, etc still exists in much of the fire service today.
jeansjeansjeans5858 t1_iuhikwy wrote
What have other cities done with their old boxes? DC tried to make them informational signs for a hot minute from what I remember but I haven't seen one in a long time. There seems like so much potential for them though!
WAMU_885 t1_iuhpomz wrote
There have been projects to turn them into art installations and/or historic markers.
sprint113 t1_iuh5oeo wrote
Because they are spring powered and use telegraphs, they will still work in power and telecommunications outages. They're still in use in the Boston area and some other metropolitan areas, though I think the last time they were used to call the FS in the Boston area was like 1999.
Falldog OP t1_iufo5qy wrote
I saw this at a museum up in Maine and it reminded me of DC and the folks always asking about the old fire call boxes. I'm not 100% sure that he ones that used to be in DC were the same, but I imagine these are pretty close.