GOOD NEWS ON THE ALARM BOXES.

[68jk09]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/08/15/2011-08-15_federal_judge_rules_against_city_in_bid_to_take_down_costly_street_fire_alarm_bo.html

 

[68jk09]

It is about time that a positive ruling has been handed down on this situation & for the uninformed d'bags that commented at the bottom of the daily news article about cell phones taking the place of the boxes & street pay phones ...well....working pay phones are almost non existent in NYC & during 9-11 & the 2 Tornadoes last Sept the cell phones did not work......maybe now the city will be forced to repair the boxes in North East Queens that have been out of service since the Tornadoes last Sept 16 th.....lets see.

 

[nfd2004]

Glad to read that good news. If ONE Box is used to report a fire, then I say its worth it. Besides, they are also used to call police and EMS.

 

[FDNY150]

They are only for PD and FD. If someone hits the box and requests EMS, either the FAD answering or the PCT at 911 will notify EMS. This is a big win, because it will save jobs. Primarily the Electricians, and the trickle down of saving FAD jobs.

 

[Bulldog]

Just wondering but why is everybody so enthusiastic about this?  For what I've read by far the biggest majority of calls from boxes are false alarms which just tie up the companies from being available to answer real calls.  It would seem like getting rid of them would be more of a benefit than a problem.

 

[alsc683]

Not everyone is enthusiastic about this.  I personally am not.  The great majority of the ERS boxes that we respond to are false alarms - in fact, I can't recall the last legitimate run initiated by an ERS box.  Most frustrating is when we are responding to an ERS box and a legitimate run comes in elsewhere in our district but we are unable to respond to that one because we have to investigate the first call.  More often than not, these are nuisance calls.

 

[vbcapt]

We respond to private automatic/manual fire alarms all the time that are false or malfunctions 99% of the time. I don't see anyone letting businesses rip them out of their buildings or deactivate them ?

 

[mack]

This article is a few years old but addresses the debate in Boston:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/06/no_cause_for_alarm/?page=3

It is still acknowledged as fast and reliable.  It's also the only option if you don't have a charged cell phone or can't use one. 

 

[grumpy grizzly]

One more option. You are visiting or driving through and you witness an incident. You have no idea where you are but you know you need help. Find a box, pull the handles, BFD will be there in less than 3 minutes. Remember Boston had the first working box alarm system. KUDO to my late uncle Frank Mizer, worked at BFD FAO during their war years. Made a great spaghetti and meat ball dinner. At times he would call me and my first wife to go shopping for ingredients. After feeding the crew at FAO my wife and I ended up making deliveries to E33/L15 and E37/L26. Both houses invited us to eat with them.

 

[FDNY150]

Here's something for you folks on the back step to think about. Nuisance or not, it's a run. Runs keep the numbers up. Numbers up equals a firehouse not being shut down. Firehouses not being shut down is a good thing. It's a trickle up and trickle down effect. It all works out in the end. I understand you not liking missing a run where it is something, but that is also the luck of the draw as well.

 

[grumpy grizzly]

U R RITE To the bean counters all they see is rigs going out the door. The public sees the same thing 8)

 

[mack]

Hard to find accurate numbers, but it seems 8.6% of the US opulation is either deaf or has serious hearing problems.  A lot of people who may have to depend on the red box for help.  The percentage gets real high with age. 

 

[Bulldog]

Hard to find accurate numbers, but it seems 8.6% of the US opulation is either deaf or has serious hearing problems.  A lot of people who may have to depend on the red box for help.  The percentage gets real high with age.

But in the same vein many others are handicapped to the degree they can't get to the alarm boxes because the mobility problems so the boxes are useless to them.  A large portion of this group is also the elderly.

 

[68jk09]

The Alarm boxes in NYC..... whether ERS or manual pull..... are a good thing..... something that should not be disputed unless you are bloomshit  or just in the dark about several things.

 

[Chud Da Bronx]

da call boxies should stay, cause if u do not have a cell phone and pay phones don't work, u see a fire,  u pull the alarm and following da instructions.
i understand a lot of false calls are caused by using these boxies, being i have family and friends in da FDNY past and now, The Bravest of The Brave, its part of da job son.

Chud Da Bronx.

 

[patrickfd]

You may find a working pay phone or not. You may have a working cell phone or not. You may see a cop in 30 minutes or less or not. You may not know where you are, but if you use that alarm box in 3-4 minutes a fire truck is going to be where you are (even if you don't know where that is) to help and thats worth keeping the boxes.

 

[68jk09]

How about the other day at Police Officer Figoski's funeral where 15000 were gathered ......what happened to cell phone service there ?.....the towers were overwhelmed by the concentration of calls resulting in no service (just like 9-11 & the recent earthquake).....Alarm Boxes are what is most reliable.

P.S. the Alarm boxes in North East Queens are STILL out since the tornadoes of 9-16-10 & yesterday i was in Coney Island & saw boxes on Cropsey Ave with Out Of Service Signs on them.....WTF ?.

 

[FDNY150]

The ones in CI have been out for a while, Chief. I know the guys are out working on the loops/circuits every day, but, the OT has been cut dramatically in the past year or so.