Expanding on this, I wish more communities would use some kind of connected fire alarm system that tells Dispatch / Emergency Responders exactly where the fire alarm originated, down to the pull station / item that triggered the alarm. I think we have some kind of technology that allows for this now - perhaps the same sort of interconnected system we're using to enjoy this video? (Yes, I'm aware it's not _that simple_ but we're 30 ish years into modern day digital communications systems, so one would think we'd have implemented a more cohesive emergency response system by now...)
In the US the Fire Alarm panel is prominently located within 15 feet of the main entrance. This pisses off the Architects who refuse to believe that their beautiful building could ever catch on fire.
Harrisburg, PA here. No strobes outside, but fire key box for the essential keys, there's another fire key safe that I've no clue on its location, but the FD knows where it is and that's what counts. Annunciators like the "indoor strobe" and buzzer from hell throughout the building, painfully loud even for me with my -45 db hearing loss, which is good. Had an alarm this morning, for a change it wasn't a false alarm, but a neighbor that apparently had a hamper fire of "unknown origin" (she's a smoker, despite it being a non-smoking building), she'd gone out, went to therapy, just got back for the smoke to escape her apartment and hit the elevator landing and off to the races. Blamed the air conditioner, blamed her television, even went on about her cats (no, her cats are non-smokers), then finally admitted the smoldering hamper in the bathtub... Nice lady, but 5 watt bulb in a 100 watt room. Just fess up and take the lumps, less lumps to receive that way! Was in a server room in the Middle East, working away with my partner and non the wiser to the alarm raising merry hell until I got very close to the server room door, as we had no annunciator (put it onto the must have list after that). Opened the door to hear the building alarm going off and evacuated. While I was at it, put in an order to have the old, turned off for good reason wet pipe system to have a dry pipe system installed, as we literally had both theaters of the war's communications going through those hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equipment and crypto. Weren't going to charge the pipes with water, lest they leak and well, it should've been a dry pipe or FM-200 system from day one anyway.
0:19 They also alert people outside that are oblivious to the emergency to not enter the building, like if someone is just arriving at their office and they don’t know that there is a fire, that alarm will be what tells them not to enter the office
@@benargee in my apartment building's case, frequently, the shut-ins, disabled and just lazy won't egress unless smoke starts choking them. Then, they get to go down a smoky stairway, rather than a clear one. Got the smoke stairs once, someone went out while cooking... No fun at all. Old military EMS, so I can tolerate the smoke, but I'm gonna grumble every landing on the 8 stories down. Because, one of the few things our ancient apartment building does get right is, fire alarm goes off, elevators return to the ground floor and open.
Canada has the same rules, except usually only when multiple buildings share the same monitoring system to show which building is actually causing the alarm and ours are typically blue and not red but in some places this differs but indicates the same thing. They are also typically outside where the alarm panel is or where a fire sprinkler/fire monitoring room is accessible to the outside.
Apparently it’s the same in Canada as well. The difference is that the strobes are blue and are usually positioned to also mark where the remote annunciator is. Nics systems and electric explained this in a couple of his vids.
New Zealand, where I live, has a similar idea. We usually have strobes outside, both European and American, for the use of locating the main panel of a fire alarm system. Our strobes can have either sounders or ne strobe only, and can be blue, red, or orange. They are usually located up very high, like the ones you saw. Some models are also very cheap chinese traditional strobes, which use 12V, and are more common.
In New Hampshire, or at least in Manchester, buildings are commonly required to have a green strobe as well which indicates an activation of the sprinkler or suppression system.
Really cool! These types of components are used quite often in Europe. In Germany and Austria, in most places it is required to have these strobes. In that area it is required to have a strobe but colour doesn’t really matter. Most of the times it is orange, red or yellow. It is to indicate the key box and most of the times annunciator location. In Czechia a similar law is in place with key box’s and annunciators but most of the time only red or orange strobes are used. Also it depends per municipality and not whole country like Germany. In the Netherlands it is a similar system in the US/canada to have a red strobe outside to indicate building and panel/annunciator location but the strobes are only allowed to be red. It is like that in most of the Netherlands but it depends per municipality. In Croatia there is no such regulation. Just sometimes there is a strobe or sounder outside for indication for letting people know there is a fire in that building. Unlike you guys, these are just regular fire alarm strobes just used outside.
Pretty sure the running people on fire is a really good indication of which store has an issue. As long as they're not going in circles. Hopefully they could get organized enough to run out in a straight line. The light is a nice touch. A win for those pragmatic either way.
Some my school has these lights red means lockdown green means clear blue mean medical/bomb warning white means whether warning and yellow means lockout
I have seen at least one of those locally here in PA, though interesting the one I saw is mounted to a grey box with a grey Edwards adaptahorn above the beacon strobe.
I live in Massachusetts and I'm not used to seeing these red strobes. I've seen plenty of white ones, though. I'd have to guess it must depend where in the state you are.
I'm guessing these became code before GPS guided maps (Google Maps or CAD systems for first responders) became available, that way the first responders could see at a glance where they were going instead of hunting for the address, but they still make it faster even today IMHO.
In Minnesota, the closest thing we have to this are those Wheelock things with the box behind it. They're everywhere, but you never actually see them in anyone's collection. And of course there is plenty of sprinkler bells, but they are everywhere in the US
@@FireAlarmDude5967 they’re called like “FARR-LARM” or something weird. They [if intact] have a box that usually says “when alarm sounds call 911” we also have Potter versions too
@@FireAlarmDude5967 are you a Fire Alarm Engineer, or tech? If so Industrial Explosive Protection is in Marlborough, Kidde-Fenwal is in Ashland, Protectowire is in Plymouth, and FCI/Honeywell is in Northford, CT. I have been a FA/Special Hazards tech for 25 years. I had no idea people collected these devices. The old things I have just tossed in the trash after demo over the years... I'll start saving them now and throw them on Ebay lol!
@@jeremyzimmerli4887 I am not. I’m a high school student. I would love to intern for one of those companies though; one of the staff members at my school works for one of those companies.
FireAlarmDude5967 i thought of a crazy thought. if you test it by the button the Buzzer and the button will work but if you don't test it by the Sensor, you never know if the sensor will work or not if you are testing the Smoke alarm by the button. Everyone Make sure You test your Smoke alarm by the Sensor by Using can of smoke.
@@PaulFisher The MBTA Green Line is a subway line here in Boston. Because it is the oldest electric subway in North America, it has really sharp turns that make a loud and distinct squeaking noise that can be heard above some stations, especially in the Boston common area. This is a video of a train making the turn: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YfPWY_1U53w.htmlsi=KoARBFy_LxfZP8YF
Standards vary from place to place, and so does enforcement. When I worked in Florida we had 1 strobe alarm for the entire warehouse, and during the first fire drill in 5 years time it didn't work. It never got fixed, and our policy was changed to "if you sense smoke, leave the building." It was terrible. lmao
Not really. A red strobe on a building could indicate a lot of different things. Maybe it’s a sprinkler system indicator? Maybe it indicates a fire suppression system has activated? Perhaps it indicates the location of an annunciator or sprinkler room? Maybe it indicates that a smoke purge system has activated. Maybe it indicates that the fire alarm system is in trouble. There’s a lot of reasonable possibilities for these strobes
@@FireAlarmDude5967 well an annunciator strobe is usually blue ,but what I meant as in common sense is that the red strobe is most likely to notify fire dept. wich building it is.
In germany we have Key deposit safes on the outside wall of public buildings with an Electronic door that covers the lock inside behind which the keys sit It is code in 99% of germany to have a yellow flashing light located above that deposit box to also indicate that the fire alarm has triggered for this specific area of the building complex as there are sometimes multiple fire alarm systems or zones in big areas If you are curious google for "Feuerwehr Schlüsseldepot", we also sometimes have a small key Switch behind a weather cover next to the safe to trigger the fire alarm system from the outside if it has not activated yet and we need to access the building Such boxes are usually hooked up to a Tamper-alarm anyways so its the safest way to get access to the building The Tier 3 boxes even check for presence of all keys before allowing you to lock the box again, ensuring that if we enter an unmanned site and leave it will be secured and does not need anyone to come and check
In the US the solution is a bit lower tech with simple lockboxes, usually the brand name Knox. Suffer from physical key escrow; there's a DEFCON presentation on how much of a faulty solution these really are. In most of the rest of the US the only outdoor fire notification required is one that only activates when the sprinkler system is flowing, can be anything really but most commonly a bell, either water motor or electric.
@@hyperfluff_folf think that's a state thing, besides, they also have red strobes attached to the building. The key deposit boxes are flashing yellowish or amber, but the indicators on the buildings are red. Regards from RLP
Saw these when I lived in Cape Cod ~1994 when I was 7, and thankfully my intuition back then was correct without having to ask, but thanks for confirming and giving some additional detail!
They're in Rhode Island too. My apartment complex has them on all the buildings, as do all the 2-5 unit multifamily buildings nearby. They're not always red though. I've seen red, white, and blue depending on the area (and probably also on the age of the building/system), but they all serve the same purpose and are quite effective.
I'm from Ma. In the new code, some building's may have to sound an alarm from outside the building as well. These are most common in apartment buildings and shopping mall's. Some restaurant's have them, but are usually unnoticeable. Our fire department's have done a great job with upgrading the system's. Now they alert directly to the fire department with a building address and number. Strobe's have been becoming obsolete in many place's due to this new system and increased training. This may differ depending on the size of the city you live in.
They need these for medical emergencies (and yes, police emergencies) too, as someone who has volunteered on ambulances, it's frequently hard to find the address of a building someone is having a medical emergency in
The difference with those, Medical emergencies rarely would go through a building alarm, Police emergencies would generally only be an alarm system after hours, or in banks and jewelry stores, where silent alarms often are. Also, in a Police emergency situation, may not want to alert accomplices waiting outside, such as a getaway driver for a bank robbery...
In Chicago these are located directly above the fire department connection plate, so the first responders don't have to waste time looking for the sprinkler pipe connections.
I saw one of these activating at what seemed to be a roofed outside mall in Stuttgart Germany, I only remember seeing it after the fire engines came up, and firefighters went in. The strobe looked like the big strobe light you mentioned, but instead, it was twice as long. There was another one inside the mall, but no one appeared to be rushing out, nor was there any crowd of people at the exits. It was a mall/promenade, I could see to the other side, and people were just walking through as if nothing was happening. This was back in 2017, btw.
Can you please do another video of Ranking more Fire alarm VE messages? Another question I have is when you do a system test do you live in a house as to not piss off your neighbors Can you please reply
In the US, we use red Fire Alarm beacons for Fire Alarm. but in Canada, they use blue strobes for Announciator locations and to tell that the alarm is going off BTW: My school has a horn/strobe outside in the front of the school facing the parking lot and the street to tell everyone the alarm is going off but the strobe doesn't work
I used to have a 120V screw-in Microstrobe with a clear lens. They're a bit uncommon as surplus, probably because they are most commonly used in film production.
In Australia it is a standard that every building with a fip must have a red strobe or red led any where from 2 meters to 5 meters high in a visabil spot, thoght i would just share👍
In my area (northeast US) a lot of buildings have these red-lensed cage lamps in the exact same spots, or sometimes on the side of the building, but always facing the road. And they're definitely normal lamps, not strobes. I've seen them on a couple times. Constantly on. No flashing. I wonder if they're for the same purpose...
How have I never noticed that how in all my trips into Massachusetts throughout my life have I never noticed that and trust me I’ve gone to Massachusetts a lot associate Boston in the greater Boston saw Southern an Massachusetts area I mean I’m just one State South Ave., Roma and still live in Rhode Island I have family who live in Massachusetts my brother moved to Massachusetts into the greater Boston area shortly after graduating college, he lives right near the Herbert in the airport. They clearly the harbor is in one direction from his apartment, and the airport shuttle is like a five minute walk in the opposite direction of his place, I’m always up in that area a lot growing up and even more nowadays how have I never noticed this ever in my 31 years of life - how many countless trips in the Boston SUSTO great Boston area in southern Massachusetts it’s official next time I go up into that area I am gonna make sure to look out for those sets. If I’m going up in to my brothers neck of the woods is in the harbor/airport area I’m sure they’d have them around
funny that a video needed to be made to tell people what they are for. i thought it would be pretty easy to figure out myself. oh well, got my click anyway. well done.👍
This is quite interesting. When i took Karate years ago they had a horn strobe outside. I remember experiencing the fire alarm going off and they had to evacuate the whole building. There was a horn strobe outside which was rather quiet considering it was on a lower volume.
Massachusetts electrician here, I work for a retail company and I find myself traveling state to state. Just out in Illinois putting one on that space. Interesting thing when I was in New Hampshire at the beginning of the year at hey wanted a red beacon for the alarm and also wanted a green beacon to indicate a water flow!! Never did an exterior green beacon before, what are your thoughts? Is there something new in NFPA.
I'm surprised you didn't get any examples of the blue strobes that are usually right next to the red ones. I believe those are for burglar alarms. I've seen quite a few of red/blue sets on buildings in western Mass.
I live in Western Mass. and this is distinctly less common here. Quite a few building have systems with no external notification, and many that do just use regular notification appliances. Even many strip malls lack these kind of strobe lights, with Pittsfield's Allendale Shopping Center and North Adams' Steeple City/Parkade Plaza being examples.
I've also seen photos of in some multi complex areas (say a business park or warehouse complex) they will have a blue strobe on the outside of the building, usually at the FACP/annunciator/knox box point to indicate which is the building under the alarm condition.
Here in Indiana, they have no such requirement for these strobes. Also, I live in one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the state, and there are no city regulations requiring them either. I think our fire codes are current to 1935. :P
Where I live, exterior strobes are not required for every building with a firealarmsystem, but only for those, that have an emergency key box for the fire department to gain access. Thoose strobes are then to be mounted above the box, so the firedepartment can quickly locate it. Usually every building that has devices that can activate the system automatically, such as smoke or heat detectors, also has an emergency key box. (I specified that because in the region I live in, there are a lot of older and smaller buildings, that got retrofitted with firealarmsystems, that are hooked up to callpoints only and therefore don´t have emergency key boxes. Because if there is noone there that could open the door there would be no way for the system to be activated anyways.) There are multiple types of those key boxes, but the most common one works in the way, that they have two doors of wich the first gets unlocked by the firealarmsystem and the second one can be unlocked with a key, that´s stored at the firestation, responsible for the building.
For very expensive and huge venues or public areas, It’s probably for sure supposed to be set up this way to notify the fire department, but I think it’s pretty cool. When I shop at Costco, I would usually see three big red, white, and blue ceiling strobes inside the building. One is for fire, one is for emergency, and the other one (blue one) I think is for theft or lockdown.
one of them can also be for refrigeration. If there is a problem with one of the cooler zones it would tell someone in the store to go take a look at whatever console they check that on.
Very informative video! Sometimes I see clear lensed fire alarms outside, but this is a better way to have less noise however I don't know how bright they are
I think they’re legally required to be as bright as possible due to the possibility of them going off during the daytime. At night, these are SUPER obvious, so no issues there-but during the day, it’s not as easy. Might want to Google it; I don’t have time to at the moment.
Question a local high school by my house they have simplex horn strobes inside and out side spectralert advances I thought simplex is their own brand I know wheelock can be used on simplex system I thought spectralert couldn't
It could also be that that high school may have had 4903 or QuickAlert or Older Fixed Candela TrueAlert Horn Strobes and had either a SpectrAlert Classic or Advance Installed as an outdoor device since Simplex didn't come up with weatherproof alarms at that time.
