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�I NT R ODUCT I ON This report covers a short study of fire alarm boxes for 10 of the 11 largest cities in the State. This evaluation covers the effectiveness of the fire alarm box as part of the communication system for fire calls. Box coverage per 1,000 population is compared to total boxes in each city. Further comparison is made with false alarms to total alarms received through the fire alarm boxes in each city. GMA wishes to acknowledge the rapid response of Fire Chiefs Carl Callaway, Thomas Eberhart, J . G. Fitzgerald, C. W. Ford, Dewey B. Foster, J.M. Kidd, A. D. Nixon, J. R. Parham, W. A. Register and Howard C. Schaffer, also the fire department staffs of each city who kindly completed this information and provided their many combined years of e xperience in the evaluation of this communication device. Equal appreciation goes to the entire GMA Staff who individually contributed to the development of this report. It is intended that this brief yet concise piece of basic information will contribute to improved effectiveness in municipal fire service. Jerry A. Singer Director of Research May, 1969 W. Elmer George, Executive Director - 1 - �FIRE ALARM BOX USE A Survey of Georgia's Largest Cities The fire chiefs of Georgia's ten largest cities 1 favor the continued use of fire alarm boxes. Although false alarm rates are high the boxes are still considered the most effective and fastest means of communication to a fire department. The many valid calls received through the fire boxes result in the saving of lives _and property value. ,. This leaves the false alarms in the necessary nuisance ca~egory. =TOTAL ALA RMS (Fire Boxes) FALSE ALARMS (Fire Bo~es) 320 160 'i§' I A VJrr, § J c;~ §' ~rr, ~ .,_,'11 (,j § .::,OiJ ~ -c,rr, ~ - 2 - I .f ..., .,_,'11 I "" ~ I., ~ - .q; ~""' l.:iJ I' ~ .,_,rr, • !'o

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~ �The survey revealed suggestions that boxes be removed from residential areas. Another a.rea in which fire alarm boxes do not appear useful are certain industries with private alarm and sprinkler systems in use, Several chiefs feel the conversion to a telephone alarm system might be better, but the costs are prohibitive. Savannah uses such a system through which the fire department, police department, or an ambulance can be summoned. ,. For 212 such boxes, Savannah pays a yearly rental of $11,448. According to a report by the International City Managers' Association, the proper placing of fire alarm boxes in a city is important in effective fire control and in ·2 reducing false alarms . Downtown office buildings are high value areas in which telephones cannot be reached at night. at two block intervals. It is recommended that fire boxes be placed High life hazard areas, such as schools, nursing homes, and hospitals, should be adequately covered. areas where telephones are numerous. Fire boxes should be removed from residential Slum areas are an obvious ex ception, since there are few av ailable t1elephone s . According to the National Fire Protective Association 10% of all fires in the United States account f or 90 % of a ll property damage loss. It appears that the high value area s a r e most in ne ed of easily reached fire alarm bo xes . This is further substan- tia t ed by the assigning of deficiency points by the American Insurance Association . Conce r ning f ire alarm bo xes , t he AI A ass i gns a maximum of 20 points fo r residential areas , 67 points fo r prin cipal business distr i cts and 40 points fo r other high v alue areas, 3 Some cities have g r e atly reduced the ir pe rce ntage of fals e alarms b~ various me-ans , Washington, D. C. reduced false a l a rms 45% in one month thr ough an intens ive e ducati on project with the public school children. Publicity given to the arrest and conviction of a few false alarm violato r s s uccessfully reduced the overall false alarms in one c i ty, Arr es t of the guil ty was a result of cameras placed on t h r ee of t he city's fire I a l a r m boxes , - 3 - �I Norfolk, Virginia found that 51% of all false alarms were placed on the weekends when children were out of school. Relocation of certain boxes greatly reduced the false alarms. To receive the largest benefit from fire alarm boxes -- Consider: 1. What area needs the protection of fire boxes? 2. Where can fire boxes be eliminated and relocated? To reduce the percentage of false alarms -- Determine: 1. Which boxes are most affected? 2. In those areas with most false alarms are telephones nearby? 3. Would these high false alarm boxes be more effective in another part of town? Another valid consideration might be the box es in use per 1,000 population. Use the following charts to see how your city compares. 1 At l anta Excluded. 2 11Fire Alarm Communicati ons 11., Management Information Service. December 196?. 3Ibid - 4 - (Report 28?) �1. Savannah . Columbus Macon Augusta Albany Athens ~rietta East Point Rome Valdosta Boxes per 1,000 population - 5 - �250 (/) (I) X 0 ..0 E 150 '- ro -ro (l) '·- 50 LL l ,§' ~,, A § ff § §"-'"' (,i ~ cJ"' .::,Co S' <,,,,

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~ ~ ~ I Ill ,.., J' 0~ . "-' ,Ill ,.,'/Of ~ ~ ,..,,,, '(/J ~~ "-', ti, I ~ A-"' fq,,, I 135 127 126 64 85 43 . POP U. LAT IO (THOUSANDS) - 6 - 37 ij 37 33 32 �NAME OF CITY & NO. FIRE ALARM BOXES IN CITY NO. OF FIRE CALLS NO. VALID FIRE CALLS ANSWERED AS RESULT OF FIRE ALARM BOX COST OF FIRE ALARM BOXES TO CITY ARE BOXES RENTED? WHO DOES CITY PAY FOR RENTAL OF FIRE ALARM LINES? IF COST IS ADDITIONAL TO ANY OF PREVIOUS COSTS·, STATE HOW MUCH IS PAID PER YEAR FOR LINE RENTAL Albany 127 154 29 $145.00, $190.00 Auxiliary Side or Master Box No Athens 75 41 11 $200.00 Varies No Augusta 210 84 . 55 $34,236.72 Annual Yes None None Columbus 241 394 152 $200.00 No None None East Point 190 302 182 $172.50 No None Macon 182 366 323 $250.00 (Box Only) No None Mariet t a 172 106 39 $250.00 No None 84 26 $250.00 No Savannah 212 (Street Boxes) 157 (Year 1968) 89 Valdosta 98 83 15 Rome 115 $243.30 - 7 - City Owned None None Yes Telephone Co . $4.50 pe r mo. per box $11,448 per yr. No None None City Owned �C O MME N T S "I feel every means possible should be used for the public to summon help in an emergency such as fire , Alarm boxes have been used for other emergencies other than fires. I think they are necessary. The most efficient emergency alarm equipment for the general public are emergency telephone boxes, but they are too e xpensive for most fire departments to install and the recurring charges are too high," - "It is necessary to properly maintain the system that carries the fire alarm boxes, service them and test them often . I know of no better way to have a fire alarm system." "Fire constitutes the most destructive force encountered in an Urban Community. And yet, it is -the most easily controlled when dealt with in its incipient stages . The gene r al public can sound a Fire Alarm quickly and easily by operating the PULL LEVER on the alarm bo x. A coded signal automatically flashes to the Fire Dep ar tment in seconds . Complete fire defences are responding immediately. We very definitely need them and they are effective even with the rate of False Ala rms . " "A Munic ipal Fire Alarm System is reliable means of notifyi ng a fire department that a fir e emergency exists. The r e are two ba sic elements in the communication. requirements of a modern fire dep artment: ( a) An e f fec tive system of rapid communications between the operating units of the depa rtment . (b ) The devices which provide for pr omp t reporting of fi r es to the depar tment up on dis covery . (A) It is necess ary f or fire depar tmen t office rs t o be able t o communica te r ap i dly with the offic e r s in charge of individual fi r e commands. The se offi cer s i n turn must keep in t ouch with fire h e adquarters . A mean s of c a lling of f- du ty firemen t o duty with mi nimum de lay when emer gency demand s , It i s al so desirable that the c ommunicat i ons s y s t em permi t a f ire department t o c ontac t departments in neighboring communiti es . For the s e v a rious purp os e s a ll forms of communication are us ed in one way or a no ther, i ncl uding radi o , telephone and telegraphic equipment and me s s enger . s e rvice. (B) The second basic element of fire department communications is the provision of means whereby a person di s covering a fire may promptly report it to the fi r e department , utilizes the telephone, and the municipal street box fire alarm system . The Ame r i can Insur ance Association grading schedule assigns the communicatioti and f ire a l arm sys t em five hundred fifty of 5,000 possible defic i ency points . Ther e - 8 - �is some questions whether such a high percentage of the total points should be assigned to the street box system and related equipment, the purpose of the grading schedule is to measure factors involved in large fires or conflagrations. Actual fire experience shows that delayed alarms have resulted in many important fires in the large loss class. Street fire alarm box systems are used in three out of five communities of · more than 5,000 population in some areas of the United States. This ratio is much higher in some parts of the country where 9 out of 10 cities of more than 5,000 population have fire alarm systems. Fire department communications and public fire alarm systems are supplemented by private fire alarm and supervisory systems. Before a city discontinues their fire alarm system they should determine the effect removal will have on fire insurance rates within the city, Compare cost of leased service and municipal owned systems. The effect of delayed alarms , " "I do not think that there is any faster or more positive means for a department to receive and respond to an alarm. However, I feel that if we could cut out the unnecessary street boxes, this would definitely cut down on our false alarms, as over 50% of our box alarms in 1968 were false." "In determining a city's classification according to American Insurance Association we must have fire alarm boxes. Due to the number of false alarms, I'm sure there must be a better way. Yes, this is a needed thing." "We do nee d fire alarm boxes. They are effective. American Insurance Association requirement." There is no better way. "Under the present insurance grading schedule, it is almost mandatory to have fire alarm boxes to achieve a low b ase i nsurance rating. For the transmission of fire alarms, they are effective. But, in my opinion , the high cost of procurement, installation and maintenance for the number of valid alarms transmitted does not justify the expense, taking into consideration that the majority of homes and business areas have telephone service , Also, most cities have police patrol cars with radios at all times f or transmission of fire calls." "I think the f ire alarm b ox in our residential areas is becoming less effective each year, be cause the number of alarms is gradually getting smaller each year. Also, many of t he residents do not know the location of their nearest alarm box be cause they depend on the telephone f or reporting fires. I do think that our buildings with automatic sprinkler and other systems should have an alarm box connected wi th the fire department for several reasons which I will not go into . I think we could have a better system but it would be expensive to make the change over. " - 9 - �"The telephone fire alarm system, in my opinion, is most effective in that the exact locations of fires and what is burning can be reported with fire equipment being dispatched accordingly. Phones in the fire alarm boxes are also used for emergencies other than fire such as for police, ambulance, etc." - 10 - ��