⋅ THE TULSA FIRE MUSEUM IS OPEN DURING MONTHLY SCHEDULED EVENTS AND OPEN HOUSES ⋅
.png)
Before 911 existed, citizens in Tulsa would report fires using one of these Gamewell Fire Alarm Boxes that were located throughout the city. They were installed in large businesses, schools, and were primarily found on street corners.
​
How They Worked:
​
When someone saw a fire, they would:
​
-
Pull the front cover panel down
-
Pull down the hook inside
-
The alarm box would then transmit an electrical coded signal through pulses in electricity to the Fire Alarm Building.
​
How They Worked:
​
Once a Fire Alarm Call Box was activated, bells started to go off at the main Fire Alarm Building. These bells would match the alarm code that was being transmitted via the electronic pulses from the call box that was activated.
​​
​As the electrical signal came in, the ticker tape translated the electronic pulses into print. The code that was printed on the ticker tape was then used as a reference number to indicate which alarm box was activated.
​
If alarm box 357 was activated, the ticker tape would display the following:
-
Three black dots
-
[empty space]
-
Five black dots
-
[empty space]
-
Seven black dots
Using the code from the ticker tape, dispatchers would use the running books to search for the corresponding code in the book. From there, they were able to see the street intersection that the alarm box was located at and what apparatuses to send to the call for service. The book detailed what companies to send for a 1st alarm fire, a 2nd alarm fire, and a 3rd alarm fire.
​
After referencing the running book, dispatchers would send an alert to the fire stations.
Station Alert Gong
These gongs (right) were installed inside fire stations, usually in the apparatus bay, to alert firefighters that a call has been received. It was made to be loud enough to wake firefighters and send them running to their apparatuses. They eventually evolved to become slimmer (below) but worked the same. Inventions like this paved the way to the modern day drop system.
