So the fire drill went well.
August 13, 2008, 11:20 PM
So the fire drill at work went off without a hitch. At 11:15 AM, the fire alarm went off, and all of us on “Team Wheelock” (since the signals in our building are Wheelock) put on our safety vests and hard hats and got down to business, doing a sweep across the floor, making sure that everyone was clear before leaving. And after the fire drill was over, here’s Team Wheelock, victorious:
And wouldn’t you know I encountered a surprise in all of this? Turns out that one of the horns on our floor didn’t work. The little Space Age light worked as expected, but the Wheelock 34 horn behind it was dead. It’s kind of an obvious tipoff when the fire alarm sound becomes quieter as you approach a horn that’s supposed to be going off. So yeah, this one is dead:
So I reported it to the building management as dead. Your guess is as good as mine about what they replace it with, but I’d guess it will probably be something from Wheelock.
And while we’re on the topic of fire alarms, I love this card above the pull station in my office building:
Vintage! Most of this card is still applicable, where they say that the local alarm system is for evacuation purposes only and does not call the fire department, and that after pulling the alarm, it is up to you to call the fire department. But then about two-thirds of the way down, it says to “Familiarize yourself with the location of the Municipal Fire Alarm Box NOW.” Then it gives the location of the nearest municipal fire alarm box.
What’s funny is that DC dismantled its municipal alarm call box system years ago – in the 1970s, according to this article. I go past the municipal alarm box in question every day on my way to and from work. It’s now a street exhibit explaining a little bit of Dupont Circle’s heritage, while also explaining that it was once a municipal fire alarm telegraph. So one should probably just slide down to the end of the page, and just call 911.
So there you go.
Web site: Why not emergency slides?
Song: Tech-No
Quote: So this marks my first honest-to-goodness planned fire drill since college, and the first time I've evacuated to the sound of a Wheelock electric horn since 1992, when I was a student at Grimes Elementary in Rogers, with the 7002Ts there.
Categories: Fire drills, Work