I can only comment on how we use to receive calls for either fire or medical emergencies when I was an active member there. ( 1968 – 1977) During fund drive, where we would go door to door requesting donations we would distribute telephone and window stickers with several telephone numbers on them. If the need arose all they needed to do was call one of the numbers, give them the information and we would respond. As always, we would also tell them to notify either the police of FDNY if conditions permitted. Additionally people would go directly to the fire house and sound the alarm mounted on the front of the building. If someone was at the firehouse, the Bronx fire radio would be monitored and if one of the alarm boxes that we would normally cover were announced the alarm would be sounded and the company would respond. At one point in time FDNY installed a pull box on the outside of the building. We would pull this box if we knew we were responding to a working structure fire or serious emergency condition. That was box number 3-2610-2 and this would alert the responding FDNY companies that there was an actual fire involving some kind of structure. We did not have any form of direct radio contact with any FDNY units. At times we would have one of our members call Bronx Fire Headquarters so that certain information about the alarm could be passed on to the responding companies. Our alerting system was sirens and air horns / train whistle mounted on the roof of the firehouse which were sounded to notify members that there was an emergency call.
