Active Telegraph Fire Alarm Box Systems

Hats off to these towns keeping the systems alive and strong! Below is a list of these towns. Click on the town to learn the history of their system:

On July 24, 1896, John Gamewell, the inventor of the Gamewell Fire Alarm System, died in his Hackensack home. The Gamewell System of Fire Alarm Boxes has been in place in the city since the 1880's and there is even a street named for him - Gamewell Street.

Hackensack’s Gamewell system dates back to the late 1880’s. In 1896, there were 22 pull boxes. They were primarily located south of Passaic Street, as very few people lived in the Fairmount section of town at that time. The signal codes were very simple: 3- return taps, 5-testing fire alarm, 6-shut off water, 10-relief call. There were two districts with 10 boxes in district 1 and 12 boxes in district 2. They were:

By 1910, the number of boxes increased to 42. Some of the boxes from 1896 remained, but most either changed number or location.

When an alarm box was pulled it rang a bell on the front tower of the Mercer St. firehouse and blew a compressed air whistle at the rear of the building.

On October 1, 1952, a phantom fire alarm system was installed. Every intersection of the city and numerous buildings were assigned box numbers. There was a filing system in the Headquarters desk room with all the running cards in it and when a call came by phone, the desk man pulled the card and then tapped out the box number to the responding companies. This system remains in place today as the cards remain, and in case of emergency can still be put into use. Today, there are 151 boxes in the city.

*Information on Hackensack's Gamewell system taken courtesy of the official website of the City of Hackensack.

Box #	Location
25	Union Avenue & Maple Street
26	Union & Carmita Avenues
27	Newell & Mortimer Avenues
28	Passaic Avenue & Wood Street
34	Montross & Woodward Avenues
35	Park & Gouverneur Avenues
36	Pierrepont Avenue & Ridge Road
37	Passaic & Park Avenues
43	Orient Way & Passaic Avenue
45	Station Square

During the next 20 years, the young Borough of Rutherford began to grow and prosper. There were now 1,928 homes and over 100 businesses. By now, there were 24 alarm boxes in town. During 1916, the control board for the box system was relocated to the back of the Co. 2 firehouse on Park Avenue (now Cafe Matisse). The control board consisted of 3 box circuits and 1 alarm circuit. The box circuits had the alarm boxes on them while the alarm circuit had the outdoor warning bells in the bell towers and the gongs in the firehouses.

Thirty years later (in 1946), the Borough grew to 3,672 residences of mixed sizes. The fire alarm system also grew to 47 boxes, nearly double that from 1916. In addition, bells, ink recorders and punch registers were added. A total of 18 house bells were installed in the homes of firefighters throughout town, while still utilizing only 3 box circuits and 1 alarm circuit. Although the boxes were now throughout most of the Borough, fire notification was still troublesome. There were many varieties of fire alarm boxes in town. Speaking "Electric-ease" the boxes had various resistances and types. Most of them were acquired second hand from other municipalities who improved their systems. Plus, these boxes were not suited for outdoor use. With those problems, if a telegraph wire broke due to a storm, about 1/3 of the boxes would not work. In addition, the room behind the Park Avenue Firehouse was not proper for the electrical circuitry. It was a damp room with no heat. The battery room was isolated from the fire alarm control panel. Acid fumes from the batteries slowly began to deteriorate the contacts and instruments. It was time for a change. Lewis M. Minnella, the Borough fire alarm technician submitted a report to the Borough of Rutherford suggesting proposed adjustments to the system. In his report, he suggested that the fire alarm control panel be moved to Borough Hall since it is properly ventilated and heated, replace the existing control board with a new board which has more box circuits (called a Form 4). This would allow less boxes to be out of service if a wire should break. Mr. Minnella also suggested that the Borough install new three-fold boxes made by the Gamewell Company. The three-fold boxes is a step up from the old system in that if a wire should break, the box would still be able to transmit the signal, using earth ground to complete the circuit. At that time, there were only 7 three fold boxes in town. The Borough agreed with Mr. Minella's suggestions and purchased the needed equipment and moved the fire alarm controls to its present location inside Borough Hall.

In January 1954, a quote was received on January 27, 1954 by the Gamewell Company of Newton, Massachusetts for 1 Gamewell Diaphone Public Alarm Installation - Cat. #8102, Code YATOZ, Type D, 1 Gamewell Diaphone Public Alarm Installation - Cat. #8104, Code YATRO, Type B and 1 Local & Supplementary Alarm, Cat. #9164 Code YUDOS. Total quote for equipment: $3,105.90. Apparently, no action was taken. Rather, quotes for new chains for the bell tower equipment was purchased. Due to concerns about the possibility that the weights would fall on pedestrians below, another quote was requested from Gamewell for the diaphones. Eventually, the diaphones were purchased and installed. In February 1959, plans were made for another diaphone installation at the Ames Avenue Firehouse. No quote from Gamewell, nor a purchase order was attached. However, there is a third diaphone which is not mounted and is currently being refurbished by the webmaster. In late 1961, the two bell towers were demolished.

In March 1966, Box 51 located at 290 Veterans Boulevard was installed. In the late 60's-early 70s, work on the expansion of State Highway Route 17 caused the fire alarm division to move the circuit wires crossing Rt 17 to Box 16. The project involved running underground cable underneath Rt. 17 and running 2 conductor c-wire in place of the old single strand telegraph line wire.

In 1981, the Borough was looking to either add another set of fire horns or replace the existing system. A quote from J.W. Systems was received for a Harrington Air Horn Control System. This new horn system would accommodate up to 4 horns at one location. Evidently, it was rejected and the Gamewell Diaphones remained.

Problems began to arise in the late 1980's with the Diaphones. The valves would stick often, resulting in a very long blast lasting for a few minutes. People would maliciously pull the boxes quite often. Multiple fire calls a day would cause the diaphone to blast. Plus the diaphones sounded 24 hours a day. Residents living near the diaphones began complaining about the blasts from the diaphones. Adjectives such as horrid, nerve-shattering and devastating were used to describe the diaphones. At the time, the diaphones were connected to the fire boxes and would sound 4 rounds of the box number if pulled. In addition, any telephone alarm of fire called into the Rutherford Police Department would result in three rounds of the closest box number to the location of the incident. Meetings between the residents and Borough officials did not yield the results in favor of the nearby residents. One resident took legal action against the Borough. In September 1994, the diaphones were disconnected from the street box circuits and 3-3-3 would be manually transmitted by the Police Department for an alarm of fire at a specific address, smell of smoke in a structure, fire alarms sounding in a structure, water flow alarms, a working structure fire, or at the request of the Fire Chief or OEM director in the event of an emergency. The diaphones would continue to sound daily at 17:00 hours. In addition, there were attempts to adjust the decibel level of the diaphones. Rather than having a reasonable sounding blast, the diaphones sounded more like a hic-cup. A few years later, the diaphones stopped sounding all together.

The fire alarm boxes nearly met the fate that many towns faced in 2000....removal of the system! The fire alarm superintendent was retiring and found that 9 of the 59 existing boxes were working. The boxes were bagged and he reported that the system was failing. He retired soon after and the Borough was looking to remove the system. John P. Melfa of Engine Co. 4 heard about this and spoke with the Mayor and Council. He received the ok from the Mayor and Council to bring in an outside party to see what the problem was with the fire box system. The analysis found that a telephone pole transfer was made on Mortimer Avenue between West Passaic & Donaldson Avenues. The circuit wires in the terminal box on the old pole was disconnected and incorrectly attached to the terminal box on the new pole by an outside electrician handling the pole transfer. Thus, when the circuit wires were properly connected, 54 out of 59 boxes were working once again. After reporting this to the Mayor and Council, Mr. Melfa was given the green light to go ahead and continue working on getting the last few boxes up and running. Soon after, the remaining 5 boxes came back on line and numerous ground faults were cleared out.

Since that point in 2000, Gamewell master fire boxes were added to each firehouse. Digital master boxes were added to various buildings, including Felician College, with more to be installed. Multi-conductor wire linking the Borough schools was installed, with some pairs reserved for the fire alarm boxes. Areas where the multi-conductor wire does not run, but the old line is run, is in the process of being replaced with new 2-conductor wire. This will remove any ground faulted points in the old wire and will result in less wire to maintain, since there are 2 conductors in the wire rather than one. Most recently, the Form 4 which was installed in 1946 was finally retired and replaced by a newer Form 4 console, purchased used from the Montclair Twp Fire Department a few years ago. The system is very likely in the best condition it has ever been.

Rutherford Box List

*History of the Rutherford Fire Box System taken from www.rutherfordfire.org. Special thanks go to....me...since I also operate that site.

Teaneck - The history of the fire alarm telegraph in Teaneck dates back to 1937. But we cannot talk about that until we talk about the humble beginnings of fire notification in Teaneck. In 1895, Locomotive rims were mounted on gallows with enameled signs. When there was a fire, residents would take a bent metal flat stock, go to the nearest "gong" and tap out the number, according to the number code on the sign. Other residents hearing the signal was then expected to repeat the signal at the gong nearest them. There were up to 46 gongs throughout the town. This lasted up until 1920.

In 1920, residents began to dial the operator and ask for the Teaneck Fire Department to report a fire. The operator then transferred the call to the Teaneck Fire Department. the firefighter on the desk would then ring the appropriate fire stations on a plug-type switchboard. this ring would set off World War I surplus air raid sirens at the fire stations. Members reporting to the stations to answer the alarm would pick up the phone. This would stop the siren and allow members to copy dispatch info onto a chalkboard. These lines were leased from New York Telephone.

In 1929, an extension from the Teaneck Police Department was connected to the Fire Department switchboard. There were 46 Police call boxes, painted red and left unlocked. Red and white rings were painted on the utility poles where the box was located. Also during the year, the Teaneck Chamber of Commerce began to push for a better fire alarm system.

During 1932 the leased phone lines began to give problems to the TFD and a resident. Alarms rang a home phone on Penn Avenue and telephone calls to the same resident set off the air raid sirens at Station 2. The Teaneck Fire Department also produced new box number locations.

In 1933, the air raid siren at Fire Headquarters was replaced with an air horn. The air horn sounded the box numbers and special signals.

1937 marked the introduction of the telegraph fire alarm boxes in Teaneck. 40 boxes were placed in service. Bells were installed in the fire houses. In 1940, tThe air raid sirens were used only for air raid warnings and snow days. Phone lines to the stations became municipal. The telegraph box system was made up of 4 box circuits and 1 local circuit in headquarters which was connected to a 16" gong.

1940 through 1957 saw more changes for communication. A two-way radio was installed in the Chief's car and Rescue 1. The radio frequency was 1630KC AM with an FCC Call Sign of KEE888. Radios were installed in the fire stations. Upon an alarm, two taps sounded on the Headquarters circuit and the box number was sounded on the station bells and over the air horns. Two announcements were made over the municipal voice lines to the stations. Each station had an amplifier and a speaker. There would be two tones then the announcement of the alarm over the radio.

In 1948, Teaneck Fire switched over to 33.8600 MHz AM, with the same Call sign. Also, 1948 marked the introduction of Master Boxes to the Teaneck Telegraph Fire Alarm System. All schools, a car dealership, a chemical test facility, a bowling alley, a night club and two taxpayer buildings were the first the Master Box customers.

Over the next 30 years, the number of circuits expanded to 16 box circuits and 2 alarm circuits. The use of the air horn was limited to General Alarms. The Teaneck Fire Department switched to 155.6100, sharing the frequency with the Police and DPW. By 1960 all apparatus had two-way radios. In 1968, the boxes were revised, splitting the town up into 6 zones rather than 4. In 1969, the Teaneck Fire Department split off and began operating on 158.8200.

From 1970 - 1972, many street boxes were added, as well as numerous master boxes.

Municipal voice lines to the stations and police were placed out of service. Box numbers were no longer sent out over the bells for telephone alarms of fire. Radios in the stations were replaced with tone-activated models. The two taps were no longer sent over the circuits.

In 1997, Municipal voice lines were reestablished to the stations and Police Headquarters. A voice line from Fire Headquarters to the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps was established. Dispatch procedures remained the same. The inside wire was used primarily for administrative messages, but sometimes used for dispatching during multiple alarms ongoing. 13 radio tie lines were also incorporated into the system. Also, a fireground frequency of 156.000MHz was established.

In 2003, Computer communications (via T1 lines) was established to all stations (Police, DPW, TVAC, Rec Dept. and Muni. Court). These lines were piggybacked on the fire alarm cable plant.

Teaneck has the traditional telegraph boxes (both Gamewell and SAFA) and also has wireless radio boxes. Teaneck has about 33 radio boxes. Teaneck continues to add telegraph boxes to their system, with one being added just two weeks ago, Box 487 - Pershing Circle. The telegraph system gets quite a workout in Teaneck as it receives many box pulls for confirmed fires. The most recent box pull for a fire was Box 9294 - 704 Pomerwalk in late March, 2009.

Recently, I stumbled across a Municipal Services booklet from 2002 from Teaneck and found a section about the fire alarm boxes, which I find interesting. The very first sentence about the fire alarm boxes states "Teaneck's municipal fire alarm system continued to be the best way to report fires, smoke and other emergencies to the Fire Department. In August 2002, Teaneck suffered a wide area failure of commercial telephone service when a severe lightning storm knocked out hundreds of phone lines in the northwest section of Teaneck. While the telephone company diligently sent a large force and immediately began repairs, many households lacked telephone service for up to four days." The report continued on saying "In 2002, 91 fires and emergencies were reported via the fire alarm boxes. The instant alarm signals helped limit the damage and injuries in fires occurring at the hospital, a high-rise hotel, a senior citizen apartment house (twice), a single family home, and other public and commercial occupancies. Dozens of smoke emergencies were signaled through the system, in some cases preventing smoldering materials or objects from reaching the stage of open flaming. In other cases, boxes were used to get help for hazardous conditions, leaks and rescue situations." Here's the kicker...."There were only 30 street malicious false alarms, less than 1% of Fire Department runs." Let me repeat that, since I think it needs to be stressed....Less than 1% of fire department runs were malicious false alarms from the pull boxes!

Another Municipal Services Booklet (from 2003) stated that the boxes were pulled 104 times, of which 18 were malicious false alarms. Click the link below:

Teaneck is a town that has their act together regarding the telegraph box system. It is very well maintained and cared for; it still serves a purpose 150 years after its invention and is still continues to prove its worth. I tip my hat to the men and women of the Teaneck Fire Department and Township officials who continue to support the telegraph fire alarm box system. May your example open the eyes to the naysayers in towns that are looking to remove their systems.

Little Falls - The Gamewell system dates back to the creation of Enterprise Fire Company 2 in 1907. The founder of Enterprise Fire Company 2 was 12-year old Wilbur S. Crane.

Fire protection in the center of town in Little Falls was scarce. Crane was able to convince the local businessmen in the center of town to put a total of $1,500 into the creation of Enterprise Fire Company 2. A firehouse was built at 17 Paterson Avenue, where the fire company is still located. In addition, 4 Gamewell boxes were purchased by Crane from his own funds, reportedly from the Township of Montclair. These boxes were placed in the neighborhood near the firehouse. Eventually, a total of four fire companies were formed and became the Little Falls Fire Department. The system was later expanded, mainly along Main Street from Main & Center Ave west to Main & Clarence, near the North Caldwell border and from Main & Maple eastward up though Long Hill Road. A majority of the boxes were placed on the Main Street/Long Hill Road corridor, with branch lines coming off of the corridor and Northward on Paterson Avenue.

The telegraph fire alarm box system in Little Falls is currently operating very strong. There are 48 street and master boxes in the Township. Improvements are made on the system almost weekly, including upgrading from the old single strand line wire to C-Wire. All the boxes are in service with the exception of the 75X series street boxes located in the Tanglewood Condo complex. Those boxes are maintained by the Condominium Association and require work with the underground wiring. All the boxes in the system are Gamewell boxes, including a 1916 box, in which the mechanism does not have the automatic ground return feature. This box is still operating normally, and will eventually be replaced with "newer" innards.

Little Falls Form 4 has 3 box circuits and 1 alarm circuit.

The system is currently made up of 4 circuits. Three circuits are box circuits. The fourth is an alarm circuit inside fire headquarters. All firehouses, except Company 1 on Wilmore Avenue have Leslie Super Tyfon train horns in use as the outdoor warning system. The each set of horns are tied into the nearby box circuit. Thus, when a box is pulled the diaphragms will blast 4 rounds of the box number. For any telephone alarm of fire, the fire dispatcher inside fire headquarters will transmit one round of the closest box. If it is a working fire, a second round of the closest box will be manually transmitted. Of the three firehouses, Fire Headquarters and Great Notch had the quad setup, while Singac Station 3 has a dual horn setup.

The numbering system is as follows. The lowest number start at 12 on the west end of the Township. As you move east, the first digit increases, until ultimately, you get to the 9 series. The attached box list includes street boxes, master boxes, and phantom boxes (no physical box, just a number assigned to the area)

The history of the Pompton Lakes Gamewell system is being researched. However, what we can tell you about the system today is that the system is primarily Gamewell equipment. The receiving unit is a Digitize Form 4, similar to the Little Falls form 4, shown above. They also have 3 box circuits and 1 alarm circuit in their system. Their system appears to have street boxes and master boxes and is in relatively good shape. It does not appear that a diaphone was used. In driving through Pompton Lakes 5 years ago, I did not see any type of horn that would have been used in conjunction with the system. However, I have been advised that there in fact was a diaphone. It is not in service and is reportedly on display inside the meeting hall inside Fire Headquarters. I also am not certain if any boxes are out of service. Five years ago, I saw a couple boxes bagged in the downtown district. A unique feature about this system, compared to others thus far, is that there are single digit box numbers. Also, there does not appear to be a numbering pattern, such as boxes beginning with 1 are the 1st ward of the town or the northeast section, etc.

Bloomfield - The Gamewell system in Bloomfield dates back to 1890, when the members of the Bloomfield Fire Department appealed to the town for the installation of an electric fire alarm system. The Township voted in favor of the purchase of an alarm system and approved a $3,500 purchase from the Gamewell Company for 13 alarm boxes and a bell, striker and indicator for each firehouse. The Gamewell system went into service on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1890. The first alarm of fire from the Gamewell system happened the same day as Box 47, Broad & Canal Streets, was pulled for a working fire at Mr. R.H. Davey's barn on Belleville Avenue.

By the 1930's, Bloomfield had 139 boxes. The box numbers were 2-digit and 3-digit patterns. Bloomfield's Form 4, indicating some trouble on the circuits, but was being troubleshooted by the Signal Division.

Bloomfield's Form 4, indicating some trouble on the circuits, but was being troubleshooted by the Signal Division.

See the Current Box List page for a copy of the old box listing from 1933.

In addition to fire alarm telegraph, Bloomfield Police had police telegraph boxes. Typically, these boxes were placed at the same locations of some fire alarm boxes, though it is not certain that the box numbers were the same. Although not in service any longer, you will find the old police telegraph boxes still mounted against the fire alarm telegraph boxes at various locations in Bloomfield. Last summer, the Bloomfield crossing guards placed a fresh coat of red and white paint on the boxes and poles. They also painted some of the blue police boxes white. It is rumored that the police call boxes remain to cover up holes in the back of the fire alarm boxes from the mounting of the two boxes together. Either way, it still a nice setup to see.

The Township of Bloomfield continues to utilize their telegraph fire alarm box system. Currently, Bloomfield has 195 fire alarm boxes, both Street boxes and Master boxes, all over 16 box circuits. Visual inspections show that the system appears to be in fair shape. However, it does appear that equipment is removed if there is a break, aside from a broken wire. Recently removed was Box 5355, located at East Passaic & Day Street. There was a new utility pole put in place in March of 2009. It may have been struck by a vehicle. The box appeared to have been moved to the new pole, but has since been removed. Approximately 5 years ago there was a box on a pedestal at Bloomfield & Watsessing Avenues (Box 1511), which was knocked over by an automobile. That box and pedestal was never replaced. From reports I've heard, the bells no longer sound in most of the firehouses. The reason is unknown at this time.

The numbering scheme is interesting. It appears that the town is divided in 5 wards. Any box starting with a 1 is in the south part of the township, from Bloomfield Avenue south. The 2xxx boxes continue from Bloomfield Avenue to Almira Box 5391 in Bloomfield, NJ at the corner of East Passaic Avenue & Bartlett Street, with an old Police Telegraph Box piggybacking it.

Box 5391 in Bloomfield, NJ at the corner of East Passaic Avenue & Bartlett Street, with an old Police Telegraph Box piggybacking it.

Street. The 3XXX boxes continue from Almira north to Augustus Street across to Chapel Ave. 4XXX boxes continue from there to, but not including Watchung Avenue. The 5-series boxes start on Watchung Avenue and continue north to the Clifton border. Also, if the second number in the box number is an "8", the box is a master box. For example, Box 5816 is Brookdale Baptist Church. Box 1851 is Carteret School - Grove Street. In addition, there appears to be a trend in the numbering scheme for Essex County towns. It seems that each intersection has a number assigned to it. You can see it with the boxes on West Passaic Avenue. Box 5399 is at West Passaic & Darling Avenues...a long block away (equivalent to 2 smaller blocks away) at West Passaic & High Street is Box 5397....2 actual blocks away from that box is Box 5395 at West Passaic & Bartlett Street (It was a similar setup in Nutley, which I hope to post information about the system soon). As I was told, there are numerous phantom boxes in Bloomfield.

Westinghouse used to have a large facility in Bloomfield, and had its own extensive telegraph fire alarm system. The Westinghouse plant has since been demolished.

If you are in Bloomfield, you can still utilize the boxes to transmit an alarm. Below is the link for their box list.

Orange - The City of Orange Township is slowly removing their Gamewell system. It is rumored that when the Fire Alarm Superintendant retires, so will the Gamewell system in Orange. Further research will be done on this. For now, here is the current Alarm Box Listing.

Verona - Not much is found on the Verona Municipal Fire Alarm Box system. There is an indication of a white ring on a telephone pole approximately 30 " in length at the corner of Elmwood & Elk Roads, which may have indicated a street box was there. Recently, I stumbled upon some additional information about the Gamewell system. It turns out that Verona did indeed have a larger box alarm system. The system was removed, with the exception of the two boxes, one on each firehouse, in the 90's. Reasons for the removal were due to an increase in malicious false alarms, increase in maintenance costs, and near zero legitimate activations.

Verona utilizes a diaphragm (apparently replacing a diaphone) to alert the FD and EMS of a call utilizing either 4-4 (for an EMS run, which was reduced from 7-7-7 due to complaints) or a phantom box number. The diaphragm does not sound during the overnight hours or when there are functions at the Town Hall, unless requested by a fire officer. Each intersection has its own box number assigned. If you live in Verona or happen to be passing through and hear the fire horn, count the blast pattern, visit their website and enter the box number. It will tell you the location of the box number: http://www.veronafd.org/index2.html, go to FAQ's, scroll down to Questions about the fire department and click on "What is that fog horn I hear every now and then?"

I do not see separate wires, such as old telegraph or C-wire in the town. The Verona FD operates on the municipal trunking radio system. So, it is possible that the boxes are connected through the same cable for the Trunked radio system. However, years ago, if a member of the fire department wished, a bell could have been installed in their home. Apparently, these small gongs are still active in those members' homes, as they are still tied into the system. The gongs are also still in service in the firehouses. A punch register is also still in service at Company 1's firehouse.

Rahway was in the process of removing street boxes and keeping the master boxes a few years ago. Boxes near the Colonia section of Woodbridge Twp and along Routes 1&9 have been removed. However, it appears that the removal of the boxes have ceased. Every so often you will hear the fire alarm crew working on the system on the Rahway Fire Department's fire band. Typically, The Rahway Fire Department will go out on Saturday mornings between 9 and 12 noon and test 3 or 4 boxes. From the sounds of it, there are three locations which receive boxes. Firecom, which dispatched Rahway Fire; Fire Headquarters on Main Street; and a substation on Maple Avenue. It is unknown right now whether Maple Street is another small firehouse or the Fire Alarm Office. A box list is unavailable at this time.

Somerville's system dates back to 1893, where according to a New York Times article, dated February 4, 1893, "Somerville firemen have raised funds to put in a fire alarm system with six signal boxes, similar to the system used in Plainfield." Currently, Somerville's Gamewell system is in grave danger! In late 2006, the system was subject to be removed. As it was told to me, there was a problem with one of the receiving units, which I believe was Harrington Signal's equivalent of the Form 4. Fortunately, I knew someone who had parts for that and offered the parts for trade to help keep the system in service. I heard no reply. In addition, there was supposedly a concern of liability with the master boxes. It sounds like the system needs some tender loving care to get it back to health. In driving through Somerville, while visiting friends and clients, I see that there is quite a bit of C-Wire strung throughout the town, as well as single strand line wire. A couple of boxes were removed in the Southern area of town, near the fire training tower, some time ago. However, as of my last visit in early August, all the boxes were not bagged, leading me to believe the system is still in service. I am attempting to get information about the system, including the history and an official fire alarm box list.