Fire Station Horns

[TLChawgo]

We are in the process of getting the Fire Horn on our station back in working order. When the station was rebuild in 2003 the old horn from the roof "vanished". The new replacement horns on the roof now are terrible; I live only a few blocks from the station and can't hear them. If we can locate old horns like what we had we will reinstall those..The problem is no one knows what they were.

None of the "old" Guys" here can recall what horns were used. Even though they were hooked into the City Box System we know they weren't Gamewell horns. They were air horns with a very low tone but were heard from several miles away no matter what the weather was.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The Members of the City of Norwich Fire Department
Norwich, New York

[Bones42]

I have two "horns" in the attic of my firehouse. They don't do much good without the reeds, which are what make the horns function. All the horn itself does is redirect/channel the sound. The reeds and air supply to the reeds is the important part.

Good luck with finding them as they are not very common anymore.

We had a digital recording made of our horn blowing and it is now played over a Federal speaker system.

[Gamewell45]

We are in the process of getting the Fire Horn on our station back in working order. When the station was rebuild in 2003 the old horn from the roof "vanished". The new replacement horns on the roof now are terrible; I live only a few blocks from the station and can't hear them. If we can locate old horns like what we had we will reinstall those..The problem is no one knows what they were.

None of the "old" Guys" here can recall what horns were used. Even though they were hooked into the City Box System we know they weren't Gamewell horns. They were air horns with a very low tone but were heard from several miles away no matter what the weather was.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The Members of the City of Norwich Fire Department
Norwich, New York

My old fire station had four horns on the roof, which are now turned off permanently since they are soley dispatched by pager and the gamewell system is no longer in service.

The horns you most likely want to purchase are known as "Bertha" horns and are loud and they carry or you can purchase "B flat" horns from any company that makes sea ships. A quick search of EBay will most likely turn up what your looking for; or you can hunt for used horns at you local firefighters muster. Remember you'll need a compressor that has at least 60 PSI and a large capacity tank to run them. And they'll definitely carry over a good distance given favorable conditions.