Posted on 09/07/2014 2:10:22 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Detroit's Under-Funded Fire Departments Use a Soda Can For a Fire Alarm
Where absent money leaves gaps, ingenuity fills in. Nowhere is that more true than in Detroit's fire departments, where, as Detroit Free Press reporter Tresa Baldas shows us, a soda can full of jangling coins and screws alerts the Motor City's long-suffering heroes when there's an emergency.
The system is brilliantly simple: A soda can full of rattling metal is balanced on top of the fire department's printer at the end of the tray. When the printer spits out an emergency alert, the paper knocks over the can. The crash of the can hitting the floor tells firefighters that it's time to suit up.
As Baldas reports, some departments get even more creative, setting up systems where the printout knocks over a weight that flips the switch on a doorbell ringer. Others replace the rattling can with a length of pipe, making a clanging wind-chime noise when the printout knocks it to the floor.
Detroit's 38 firehouses have been using these improvised alarms for years, a fact made public during testimony this week at the city's bankruptcy trial. None of the city's fire departments have the modern alarm systems seen in most American firehouses, where a series of tones and an automated voice tell firefighters the nature of the alarm.
"It sounds unbelievable, but it's truly what the guys have been doing and dealing with for a long, long time," Detroit Deputy Fire Commissioner John Berlin told the Detroit Free Press. "We're in desperate need. We're probably 30 years behind."
(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...
It was worse than a nuke … the Democrat Party hit it.
Um, that’s part of the old Packard plant. It closed in 1955. What they say about Detroit is true. But there are better photos to illustrate it than a auto plant that closed during Detroits golden age.
MI ping.
Sorry bro but that's not even close to Detroit.........If you think it is, then where is it located?
But you have to admit its awesome that Detroit provides a fleet of cars for city council members’ personal use as a perk of the job.
sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that pic was taken in IRAQ..the antenna in the background is one of hundreds that form a MSE network... we used these in 2004
Why is fire alarm alert printed off? Why don’t they get a phone call. What did fireman do before printers were around?
Notice all the wires and cords around the paper on the desk...talk about a fire hazard...
not defending them but i don’t doubt a portion of them have done so out of their own pockets for certain items already.
they could probably take a few fire alarms and bells out of unused husks of public schools there and make something that works.
you want to destroy a city, you nuke it.
you want to destroy a city forever, you vote democrat.
Looks like a little test track at that GM plant?
currently builds vehicles for GM’s Chevrolet, Cadillac, Opel/Vauxhall, and Holden divisions.
I can see the big sandbag walls in the foreground.
Interesting backstory on the Hamtrammck plant.
>>While some residents protested, others supported the efforts to build the new plant. Gary Campbell, a Poletown resident and bar owner, accused those opposing the new plant of presenting opinions of a small minority as if they represented the entire neighborhood. The controversy led to national news attention and the involvement of Ralph Nader and the Gray Panthers. Protests centered around the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church. The regional Catholic Archdiocese supported the relocations and had already agreed to sell the two Catholic churches that were in the area. However, Joseph Karasiewicz, the priest at one of the parishes defied his local Cardinal and fought to keep his building from being sold. The Archdiocese stood firm in its support of the sale. A 29-day sit-in at the Immaculate Conception Church came to an end on July 14, 1981 when police forcibly evicted 20 people from the church. Twelve people were arrested, only three of the twelve arrested were from Poletown. Shortly afterward, the site targeted for the plant was razed and construction began on the new $500 million auto assembly plant.<<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit/Hamtramck_Assembly
my husband works for a company that reclaims old industrial plants and its work, but I bet a person could make a lot of money just recyling the pipes, wiring, steel, etc....
My mom and dad were at the auction, They bought the pews from that church. We used the wood in our old home in Brighton to custom build the railings in the foyer. Also sat in one every morning along the counter eating breakfast as a kid growing up.
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