CTsirenhunter intro/sirens in Hartford County, CT

[3t22]

The prison is the 4 story brick building on the right of the blue building. The tower, at least it seems like one, is the tall structure in the center. The 2 was right on top the right hand raised corner.

Ok...however, I must respectfully disagree. I believe that is a former factory of sorts, not a prison. There is, however, the newer prison for the city in the other direction from the blue building, also on Weston St. None of this is relevant to sirens, though, so I'll stop arguing.

I thought that was the prison, especially when I saw the 2 on top, as I knew it was somewhere in that area. If it's a former factory, than that explains why the 2 vanished. I wasn't trying to cause an argument. No hard feelings?

[CTsirenhunter]

Of course not! If you're looking for the prison, it is hard to see because it is much lower-lying than the factory. It's made out of lighter brick as far as I can tell from the aerial views. I only wish it had sirens...

[The Owl]

As was I!! I didn't see much, but here is what I found while out and about on my way to and from Maine.

Nichols Fire Department Station 1- Federal Model 5 (non-working) and a Federal Model 2

Dave Fritz

Oh man, I used to live 3 doors from that firehouse on Shelton Road back in the 70's, when the Model Five was still functional!

Not sure if you saw or mentioned these, but the Nichols Elementary and Booth Hill Elementary schools had Thunderbolt 1000's when I lived in Trumbull, don't know if they're still there anymore.

Thanks for that little flashback!

[CTsirenhunter]

I have noticed that there's something very strange about how my town's six Whelen WPS 2740's operate. A little while ago, I heard one sound up, moderately far away, and then a few seconds later another that sounded to be about the same distance away fired up. They went for the usual length of time for a fire call, slightly out of sync (when one was going up, the other was going down). However, I often hear what seems like all six going off, with one noticeably louder than the others that starts first and ends after less cycles than the others. I have determined the louder one to be the one in the center of town, and I'm guessing it sounds less maybe because it is in the most densely populated part of town. However, how does explain the two-siren sounding I just heard. Does it make sense that maybe the explanation is that with six sirens in town, the dispatchers somehow only get certain sirens at the station(s) closest to the fire to sound? Please help!

[Rheems1]

I have noticed that there's something very strange about how my town's six Whelen WPS 2740's operate. A little while ago, I heard one sound up, moderately far away, and then a few seconds later another that sounded to be about the same distance away fired up. They went for the usual length of time for a fire call, slightly out of sync (when one was going up, the other was going down). However, I often hear what seems like all six going off, with one noticeably louder than the others that starts first and ends after less cycles than the others. I have determined the louder one to be the one in the center of town, and I'm guessing it sounds less maybe because it is in the most densely populated part of town. However, how does explain the two-siren sounding I just heard. Does it make sense that maybe the explanation is that with six sirens in town, the dispatchers somehow only get certain sirens at the station(s) closest to the fire to sound? Please help!

I can help with that!!!!! Each of the 6 stations are seperate..... so each has it's own set of tones attached to it. So let us just say that a standard building fire box is 3 engines and a truck... they would hit the Firetown Station for 2 engines and the Weatogue station for an engine and the Bushy Hill station for thier ladder truck. So in this case, the 9-1-1 center would send out the fire tones attached to those 3 stations which would set off the in house alert system (if there are paid people), the pagers of the people who are volunteers at those stations and would set off the siren at those three stations only. It takes a about 3 seconds for a set of tones to go out... so the siren at the Firetown station would wind up first and than 3 seconds later (or so) the siren at the Weatgoue station would wind up and than the siren at the Bushy Hill Station would wind up 3 seconds after that... so that would explain why they are out of sync.

Dave Fritz

[CTsirenhunter]

Thanks a lot! That makes perfect sense, and it helps that you know which station is which. So if I hear more sirens go off, that means a bigger fire? And why does the (presumably) center-of-town station sound a shorter cycle...is my theory about that correct?

Also, Simsbury is all-volunteer as far as I know.

So I ask now...can anybody shed any light on the great mystery of the Avon STH-10, and why their main station seems to have no siren? I know I have asked this before, but it still drives me nuts.

And I have some comments on Bloomfield...they seem to only have a siren (Gray, very good condition Model 2) at their main station. Why would none of their others have sirens? I don't think the 2 is out of service...I heard a siren once from my grandmother's house which is about a mile or maybe a bit more from the center of Bloomfield. It was fairly faint, and reminded me of Simsbury's Whelens Does this seem right for a 2, or was I picking up Simsbury's system somehow?

[Rheems1]

Thanks a lot! That makes perfect sense, and it helps that you know which station is which. So if I hear more sirens go off, that means a bigger fire? And why does the (presumably) center-of-town station sound a shorter cycle...is my theory about that correct?

Also, Simsbury is all-volunteer as far as I know.

So I ask now...can anybody shed any light on the great mystery of the Avon STH-10, and why their main station seems to have no siren? I know I have asked this before, but it still drives me nuts.

And I have some comments on Bloomfield...they seem to only have a siren (Gray, very good condition Model 2) at their main station. Why would none of their others have sirens? I don't think the 2 is out of service...I heard a siren once from my grandmother's house which is about a mile or maybe a bit more from the center of Bloomfield. It was fairly faint, and reminded me of Simsbury's Whelens Does this seem right for a 2, or was I picking up Simsbury's system somehow?

I was thinking that Simsbury was all volunteer since there was never anyone at any of the stations when I came through (which makes me angry.. I wanted to photograph the Sutphen pumper that just got refurbished). It does make sense that the downtown siren would go for less time due to it being in a more densley populated area... always good to keep the citizens happy (happy citizens are citizens that donate when it is fund drive time LOL).

Dave Fritz



Engine 5 (1989 Sutphen Pumper/2008 Ranger Refurbishment)

[CTsirenhunter]

I believe I've seen that engine before...however, my all-time local favorite is an older yellow one at the Avon station near the High School (the STH-10 station). I believe they call/called it the "Mighty Duck", and back when I was crazy about fire trucks, all I wanted to do was see it...

Besides the Model 2 at the old Bushy Hill Station, do you know what sirens Simsbury had before the 2740's?

[Rheems1]

You know what, looking through the website.. it doesn't look like your departments need money LOL. The one stations looks like the Taj Mahal (see below).... I am not sure what they had before the 2740's.... when I was at Bushy Hill I didn't even see a Whelen anywhere... though I was tired and frusterated that there was no one at Weatogue so I must have missed it. There was no one at Bushy Hill either so I didn't get to photograph the other piece I was after either, they have a Seagrave ladder truck that is built off the New York City Fire Department spec. There weren't many of this design Seagrave (with the lo-profile cab and body design) that were sold to anyone but FDNY. I think I am going to move up to Simsbury just to run at thier fire department.. nice stations and nice apparatus!!



The Tariffville Taj Mahal

[CTsirenhunter]

Ah Tariffville...our little sub-town off in the northeast...last time I passed that station was Super Tuesday of this year, a dark and foggy night. I think the siren there has a taller pole than normal, if you ask me. According to the department website, Tariffville's fire company was a separate entity until fairly recently, when it was absorbed by the wider Simsbury system.

Thanks for all the compliments on our system...