Falldog OP t1_iufo5qy wrote on October 30, 2022 at 11:32 PM

#361,437

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.

homerule t1_iuft2ek wrote on October 31, 2022 at 12:10 AM

#362,662

Replying to Falldog (#361,437)

Thank you for sharing! I’ve always wondered.

EC_dwtn t1_iufyt6o wrote on October 31, 2022 at 12:54 AM

#364,120

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.

sprint113 t1_iuh5oeo wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:42 AM

#375,357

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.

jeansjeansjeans5858 t1_iuhikwy wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:38 AM

#378,459

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!