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NotVoyager
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Location: Grimsby, NEL

Q&A - How Fire Stations Test Their Sirens

Mon Jan 24, 2022 10:45 pm

This is a commonly asked question for people that come to me for questions. “How do fire stations test sirens?” Well here is your answer!!

Standardly, fire stations often test their sirens in “Noon whistles” or “Noon Blasts” which at a certain time they will be set off for a few seconds after fully winding up, then letting it wind back down again before ending the test. In some modern controllers, like for the Modern Federal Signal Model 2 controllers, you can set noon blast controls for the siren to test at certain times automatically or for a button to be pressed.

Sometimes, a signal known as “Growl” is used, which involves the siren being turned on until winding up halfway, then winding back down again. Most commonly, allertors and older sirens are tested in these signals. They are not as common as Noon Blasts however.

Sometimes Coded blasts can be sent out by specific sirens to go with the noon blasts, but this is an incredibly rare sight as not many fire sirens have solenoids in them. They do exist however.

Or some test for twenty or so seconds as a “short alert” or “short attack” which is not as common as a noon blast but is more common than a growl test. Our old fire station used to test in this signal for their Darley 3V8 before being replaced by a thunderbolt.
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