Fire House siren

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kbsparky

kbsparky

Senior Member
Location
Delmarva, USA
I am working on a proposal for a design/build project here. This is for a new firehouse.

One question that has surfaced is the siren. I have heard that those things can have a 5 or even a 7? hp motor powering them. That can add quite a load on the standby generator sizing.

What has been your experience in hooking up fire house sirens?
 
kbsparky said:
I am working on a proposal for a design/build project here. This is for a new firehouse.

One question that has surfaced is the siren. I have heard that those things can have a 5 or even a 7? hp motor powering them. That can add quite a load on the standby generator sizing.

What has been your experience in hooking up fire house sirens?
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We put them on their own service, and if they lost power they just dispatch with duty pagers. Another option is change to fire horns, and have the stored air from the compressor blast when you loose power. I can't recall any of the higher HP sirens using back up power.
 
Apparently, some sirens are mounted on top of a separate tower, hence the need for its own service.

But, in my case, I inquired about this issue. The answer I got was there were some sound restrictions in place where this firehouse is located. So no siren or horn at all! They will use pagers to call in the troops.

False alarm, it would seem (pun intended) :D
 
5 to 7 1/2 HP is the normal, I have seen 10 HP in rare cases. You are right to be concerned about generator size. The start up current on these things is a killer and lasts for a long time while the siren comes up to speed (about 20 seconds), the startup takes even longer if the generator voltage falls off under heavy load.

I have a firehouse with a 7 1/2 hp siren that almost kills a 60 kw generator, the building load is 12kw so you would think that there was plenty left to start the siren. A similar installation with 125kw runs fine but thats a lot of generator for a normal 12kw load.
 
How about telling them the siren is antiquated IM(not so)HO. :)

If we need an air raid siren, a fire is the least of our worries.
 
kbsparky said:
Apparently, some sirens are mounted on top of a separate tower, hence the need for its own service.

But, in my case, I inquired about this issue. The answer I got was there were some sound restrictions in place where this firehouse is located. So no siren or horn at all! They will use pagers to call in the troops.

False alarm, it would seem (pun intended) :D
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They have to have at least two methods in place to notify the firefighers. The second may be a phone system. I really doubt that a zoning noise restriction applies to an alerting siren. Do they also prohibit them from using the siren on the engines when they are responding to calls?
 
The idiots that run the county I live in spent who knows how much money installing warning sirens all over the county. They test them once a month. No one who is inside their homes can hear them, and even outside it is rare that you hear them. Complete waste of money.
 
dbuckley said:
Our local siren is tested at noon every saturday. No sleeping in round here :)
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I was recently in Bayville NY. at a site and they tested the siren everyday at noon. First time I heard it I bout jumped through the roof......
Hadn't heard one since I was a kid......
 
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