fire alarm strobe question.

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zappy

zappy

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I was walking by office max and there was a strobe light on the outside of the building:confused: What is the reason for this?
 
zappy said:
I was walking by office max and there was a strobe light on the outside of the building:confused: What is the reason for this?
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So fire trucks can find the building under alarm easier.

Dat's my guess.
 
In my area they often require outdoor strobes connected to the fire alarm system to help the FD find the right building.

In strip malls around here typically there will be one large fire alarm control panel located in a landlord electric room. Each store will have a strobe out front to let the fire dept know which store is the one causing the alarm.

But it could be anything, as Marc mentioned it may be burgler.

One of our super market chain customers puts three strobes beside each other on the front of the building.

Red = Fire

Blue = Security

Yellow = HVAC / Refrigeration Problem
 
bphgravity said:
It's also a good indicator to the public that it might not be the best time to enter the building...
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That and the thick black smoke billowing from the roof.
 
Depending on local ordnance, I would agree with all the above items and add a couple more...

We've had horn/strobes installed on fire pump houses to alert/inform us where the fire pump house is. I've seen exterior horn/strobes installed on buildings that are off the public way by about 150-200 feet to alert the fire department to which/where building it is (especially on a large business complex).

Edit to add: If it was just a strobe light by itself, then its there for PD more then likely.
 
The state fire marshall (Missouri) made my company add an outside strobe and horn on the building front because the inside fire panel did not have a reporting or call out feature.
 
highendtron said:
The state fire marshall (Missouri) made my company add an outside strobe and horn on the building front because the inside fire panel did not have a reporting or call out feature.
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The system was not monitored and they required the exterior horn/strobe????

Never heard of that one...
 
kkwong said:
The system was not monitored and they required the exterior horn/strobe????

Never heard of that one...
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Around here we call that a "local" fire alarm system. It's up to the occupants whether they call 911 or not, as many times it's a false alarm not requiring fire department response.

Here, the local system is used for small commercial occupancies and small residential dwellings. Municipal connection is determined by things like square footage, building use, etc.
 
Most of the fire panels I have seen/worked on do not actually call 911. they call a contracted service which calls 911.
 
highendtron said:
Most of the fire panels I have seen/worked on do not actually call 911. they call a contracted service which calls 911.
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We go one step further here. Our panels are connected to a special transmitter that sends a signal directly to the fire department.
 
peter d said:
Around here we call that a "local" fire alarm system. It's up to the occupants whether they call 911 or not, as many times it's a false alarm not requiring fire department response.
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We still call it a local system here, too. Though more often then not, we find them in alarm and silinced with pull stations ripped off the walls, horns missing etc.

Edit to add: If there's a local alarm on the building and no one is local to hear it, does it still ring? :)
 
Last edited:
Edit to add: If there's a local alarm on the building and no one is local to hear it, does it still ring? :smile:Yesterday 07:39 PM
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No, it's an "energy star" feature!:D

We have local, monitored, and direct line service. It all depends where you are (we have 7 different municipalities in our "metroplex"), building rating, customer preference, inspector opinions, etc...

We put exterior strobes/sounders on for building location, stand pipe location, annunciator/keypad location, all depending on the building...

Jim
 
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