Maricopa County, Arizona Sirens

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

I took another Phoenix Thunderbolt hunting trip today. I went to Tonopah, just west of Phoenix, to Indian School Road and 359th Avenue. bork129 had reported a Thonderbolt being at that location here on the board back on September 2008. I have looked at this location a few times on Google Maps to see if I could find it. I never could see anything even remotely looking like a siren, so I decided to take a drive out there and look up close and in person.

I was driving West on I-10 seeing the steam rising from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in the Southern distance. I got off of I-10 and went to Indian School Road. I started heading back East to 359th Avenue. As I got closer to 359th Avenue I noticed something unusual on a post top in the distance. I was hopeful, but I knew it didn't look anything like a Thunderbolt. As I got even closer I could tell it was probably some type of speaker array. When I got up to it this is what I saw: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N06/5420144637/. No Thunderbolt in sight. Just this A.T.I. HPSS32. It is just West of the intersection on the North side of Indian School Road.

And another Thunderbolt bites the dust.

Justin

[Thunderboltlover]

They're probably just trying to comply with the mandate from DHS or FEMA or whichever bureaucracy that all sirens within x miles of EPZ must be battery backup. Although from a siren enthusiast's standpoint it seems sad that they're replacing good siren, the power companies are just trying to not get sued due to some lack of following expectations.

[azman798]

Those ATI's won't be around long once summer comes around

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

I stopped in at the Wendy's at 8259 West Peoria Avenue in Peoria, Arizona to get a bite to eat and this Federal STH-10 was at the edge of their parking lot. I don't know if it is ever used, but it still has power going to it. The service disconnect was in the on position and the power meter on the pole was working. It isn't exactly in Phoenix and it isn't a Thunderbolt, but Peoria is in the Phoenix Metro. area. I know they aren't the greatest pictures. It was very overcast that day and all I had with me at the time was my cell phone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/

Justin

[chad96ss]

Good to see that STH-10 is still there. I used to eat at that Wendy's occasionally before I moved to Avondale.

[carexpertandy]

I stopped in at the Wendy's at 8259 West Peoria Avenue in Peoria, Arizona to get a bite to eat and this Federal STH-10 was at the edge of their parking lot. I don't know if it is ever used, but it still has power going to it. The service disconnect was in the on position and the power meter on the pole was working. It isn't exactly in Phoenix and it isn't a Thunderbolt, but Peoria is in the Phoenix Metro. area. I know they aren't the greatest pictures. It was very overcast that day and all I had with me at the time was my cell phone.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58979889@N ... otostream/

Justin

Board member bellyjae mentioned seeing this a while back.

[Westgate Thunderbolt]

Good news! Just today, I officially received permission to take possession of the Thunderbolt 1000 with the "Tic-Tac-Toe" projector horn grille in Phoenix, Arizona. I photographed this Thunderbolt at the beginning of this thread. They are going to allow me to personaly do the complete removal of the siren. Even better, there is no charge for the siren. The only cost will be the equipment for the removal.

It took some pestering to get them to give in. I gave them a couple months in between contacts. Not enough to be a pain in the butt, but just enough to let them know that I wasn't going away.

The gentleman that I had been contacting said he thought the news would put a smile on my face. And it did.

The funny part about this was my contact was actually going to take the siren down for himself. He said he was retiring this year and he wanted it for his yard. He said I was the first person to ever enquire about it. I had gotten the feeling that he thought it was neet that someone else was intetested in the same crazy thing.

Justin

[CDV777-1]

Who are "They" and "them." Are we supposed to know who this is already?
I'm curious to see if the blower inside is any different since the box is different.

[sirenita]

I lived in phoenix for a good long time...I'm surprised they had anything from as far back as the 1950s! and I'm not surprised at the mystery surrounding the sirens; not much of local history is kept on the books there - it's just not part of the local culture.

[TimeAttack]

I feel sorry for the "contact" guy lol it was going to be his retiring gift