Oakland Fire Alarm Building 1911-1983
Fire Alarm Building
Incoming Box Circuits
Incoming Box Circuits
Oakland's Fire Alarm building opened in 1911 and was built as a result of the 1906 Earthquake. Built as a "Fireproof" building, in a city park and fed by 3 separate power grids. Operation discontinued in 1983, when operations moved to 1605 Martin Luther King Jr way
Incoming Box Circuits
Incoming Box Circuits
Incoming Box Circuits
48 box circuits came into the equipment that attached to the tape registers as shown above.
Fire Alarm Operators
Incoming Box Circuits
Fire Alarm Operators
All of the original operators were also City Electricians. besides dispatching, the Electrician could trouble shoot and test the equipment attached to the outgoing box and house circuits. In 1977, Fire dispatcher were hired in anticipation of the Fire dispatch operations being moved to the Fire Department in 1983 and the removal of the street boxes in 1978. Pictured are Electricians Ed Brown and X
Fire Dispatchers
Incoming Tape Registers
Fire Alarm Operators
Here the first Fire Dispatcher and Female Dispatcher, Nancy Shroder . Nancy is shown looking up a box response for a reported location.
Dispatch Area
Incoming Tape Registers
Incoming Tape Registers
to the left was known as the "Hot Seat" and to the left was the "Cold Seat". Calls came in via the telephone , by the box circuits and private Alarm companies. The tape register above their heads was known as the master tape. it received the box circuits, Private alarms and the receipt of sent dispatches
Incoming Tape Registers
Incoming Tape Registers
Incoming Tape Registers
Lined up were 48 Steinitz Tape registers Invented in 1922. by the Oakland Instrument maker Gus Steinitz for this Fire Dispatch Center. When removed, Each circuit served about 35 Fire boxes each
.