Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:35 am
As far as I can remember, the only place around DC that had Allertors was NOVA (Northern Virginia), which included Loudon County and Arlington, VA. I don't know anything about DC's old Cold War siren system but I do know that surrounding counties, specifically Montgomery County in Maryland has a systems of Thunderbolts. My dad grew up in Germantown in the neighborhood surrounding Fox Chapel Elementary School. According to him, he remembers seeing and hearing what he described to be a Thunderbolt located on the school grounds. I believe this was in the 1970's time frame.
BTW, nice job Ben on remembering most of the sirens in the suburbs of DC and welcome back to the new board. I had contacted you a couple years back about the local sirens. I remember you telling me you used to be a volunteer at the fire company in Waynesboro, PA. Anyway, most of the sirens in Frederick County, Maryland are located at the volunteer fire departments. These sirens are mostly 3t22's with the occasional STH-10 or Model 5. This would include the 3t22 at Vigilant Hose in Emmitsburg. However, last time I checked, the Model 5 in Thurmont was taken down. I haven't been back past the ambulance company in a few months so I don't know if it was put back into service.
As you mentioned, Emmitsburg now has a system of four Whelen 2805's. I believe the installation of this system of this system was purely for the security incase of something happening in relation to the close proximity of Camp David, Site R, and the National Fire Academy (FEMA).
When you mentioned Hagerstown's old system, I remembered a photo that somebody took of one of the old Thunderbolts of the Hagerstown system on the old Geocaching site. However, this siren doesn't appear to be on of the three you mention. I appears to be on top of an appartment building. Here is the link:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx ... ID=9039762
BTW, Site R (Raven Rock Mountain) is still highly active with daily helicopter flights in and out along with beefed up security. They just recently redid the perimeter fence, adding a few coils of razor wire along the fence, a definite change from the old barbed wire they used to have. Also, a couple years ago, they finished laying a fiber optic cable running all the way down the length of Route 140/Route 16. This cable ran from the Baltimore area, coming in somewhere around Westminster, finally veering from the road, ending inside the perimeter of Site R. Another similar line was run down the length of Jacks Mountain Road, coming from the north.
BTW, nice job Ben on remembering most of the sirens in the suburbs of DC and welcome back to the new board. I had contacted you a couple years back about the local sirens. I remember you telling me you used to be a volunteer at the fire company in Waynesboro, PA. Anyway, most of the sirens in Frederick County, Maryland are located at the volunteer fire departments. These sirens are mostly 3t22's with the occasional STH-10 or Model 5. This would include the 3t22 at Vigilant Hose in Emmitsburg. However, last time I checked, the Model 5 in Thurmont was taken down. I haven't been back past the ambulance company in a few months so I don't know if it was put back into service.
As you mentioned, Emmitsburg now has a system of four Whelen 2805's. I believe the installation of this system of this system was purely for the security incase of something happening in relation to the close proximity of Camp David, Site R, and the National Fire Academy (FEMA).
When you mentioned Hagerstown's old system, I remembered a photo that somebody took of one of the old Thunderbolts of the Hagerstown system on the old Geocaching site. However, this siren doesn't appear to be on of the three you mention. I appears to be on top of an appartment building. Here is the link:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx ... ID=9039762
BTW, Site R (Raven Rock Mountain) is still highly active with daily helicopter flights in and out along with beefed up security. They just recently redid the perimeter fence, adding a few coils of razor wire along the fence, a definite change from the old barbed wire they used to have. Also, a couple years ago, they finished laying a fiber optic cable running all the way down the length of Route 140/Route 16. This cable ran from the Baltimore area, coming in somewhere around Westminster, finally veering from the road, ending inside the perimeter of Site R. Another similar line was run down the length of Jacks Mountain Road, coming from the north.