InterceptRadio.com Forums

Tapped Fire is the correct term.

See page 74 of the SNOPAC Fire Radio Procedures Manual.
http://ci.marysville.wa.us/Fire/Intrane ... Manual.pdf

I am just guessing, but before they had Radios, Cell Phones, MDT's or Blackberry's, didn't Fire Dept officers have a key that would let them use a fire "alarm box" to signal the Alarm Center with a code that indicated a fire was out, or they needed more units etc?

Another SFD term that still persists from the horse drawn days is the morning "Hitch" notice at or slightly before 07:00 am.

As in "get up and hitch the horses to the apparatus".

Kerwin

Yup. Fire Callboxes require being reset. You need a special Key. Most Police Callboxes were just a direct line to the "Police PBX Board". The PBX operator was the forerunner of the "911 operator" or dispatcher. I was lucky enough to have a "police callbox key" while I was in High School --. And a master "traffic signal control box" Key. But it was my bubby -- Warren McClure -- that first "tested" out a "mini-strobe light" for his "Light show" business -- on East Second St -- at 11 PM one Friday night -- and "Jammed" all of the traffic signals in both Belmont Shore and Naples -- ( 30 lights ) for over an hour -- . Talk about Panic in the streets.

Fun stuff

We were still in High School and part of the City Police / Fire Explorers. We weren't out to cause trouble. Warren's brother was a city radio tech. And Warren is still a very good friend and buddy.

Wow. Some great stories and memories here, as well as the info I was searching for.
Thanks to all for sharing... This is the reason I enjoy this board.

_________________
Rob
N7LXI - Seattle

Yeah, I was just "funnin' ya'"

It's all cool dude. Old men don't get mad. They get mad cow and like to carry guns. Denny Crane. LOL

I happened to come across this thread while doing some other research. I worked with the Seattle Fire Alarm Center on their move to the new building at 4th and Washington. They set up a museum of all the old dispatch equipment in the upstairs lobby. I was asking the assistant chief there about the term "tap fire" and it was explained to me that it goes way back to the days of pull boxes. When pull boxes were the primary way to summon the fire department they would arrive on scene, put out the fire, then go to the pull box that was used and tap a code that meant "fire". This was to let dispatch know that the fire was out. Thus they actually "tapped fire" at the end of the incident. It's funny how terms hang around. If the computer aided dispatch system goes down, they use an electronic file of static run cards to determine what rigs to send on a call. This file is called the "tub file". It wasn't until I saw the actual tub, a metal container that had cardboard runcards in it, filed by street, that I realized why they called it the "tub file". Back before computers you would take a 911 call, look up the address in the tub of files sitting next to your desk and the run card woul give the first due units, second due units, etc.