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TboltTX1
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Houston, TX Thunderbolts

Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:02 am

This siren was removed after these photos were taken. It was on Harrisburg west of 79th at Fire Station #22

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Are there any others still out there?

What a coincidence that I ran into this place a few blocks away

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*Edit*
Here is a map I made awhile back with all of the locations I know of that are still standing or have been removed. Please let me know if there are any locations that you know of that are not on this map. Thanks!

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7578727 ... XiN8?hl=en
Last edited by TboltTX1 on Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:05 pm, edited 4 times in total.

theroofable
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Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:10 am

Still in service?

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TboltTX1
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Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:19 am

theroofable wrote:Still in service?
Unfortunately this one has been out of commission for over 20 years, and its age is showing.

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Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:59 pm

I was at that fire station in October 1996. I'm a firefighter-paramedic in the St. Louis area and myself and several other firefighters from my area flew down to Houston for some hazmat training as well as some firefighting tactics training. One of our stops was at Station 22 because that's where the Houston Fire Department's hazmat vehicles and hazmat-trained firefighters are based at. I remember seeing the T-Bolt there, and I can tell you that it was in better shape 15 years ago; not nearly as rusty. But I didn't know that it was deactivated even before then.

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TboltTX1
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Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:49 am

FedTB wrote:I was at that fire station in October 1996. I'm a firefighter-paramedic in the St. Louis area and myself and several other firefighters from my area flew down to Houston for some hazmat training as well as some firefighting tactics training. One of our stops was at Station 22 because that's where the Houston Fire Department's hazmat vehicles and hazmat-trained firefighters are based at. I remember seeing the T-Bolt there, and I can tell you that it was in better shape 15 years ago; not nearly as rusty. But I didn't know that it was deactivated even before then.
Yes, the city pulled the plug on the system in 1992 and has recently been removing the few that remain. As of now the one I posted is the only one left that I know of. Usually when a station gets renovated they take the old siren down during that process. As was the case with the siren that was at Red Elementary School it was just set on the side of the street for trash pickup when it was taken down. After some digging I found this article about the deactivation of the entire system. Thanks to Silversearchlight for posting this on a previous thread.
___________________________________________________________
City's air raid sirens will come to screeching halt

RUTH PILLER Staff

FRI 04/24/1992 HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Section A, Page 29, 2 STAR

After 40 years of service, one of the last remnants of the Cold War in Houston is being retired.

At noon today, the air-raid sirens that have sounded each Friday for the past four decades will bellow one last time.

And then city officials will pull the plug.

The sirens, installed in the early 1950s to warn of the perpetually feared nuclear attack from the Soviet Union, cost the city $35,000 to $50,000 annually to maintain. Yet the warning system has been all but obsolete for some time, said Richard Hawkins, the city's emergency management director.

The sirens were installed, Hawkins said, "back when we were keeping B-52s in the air 24 hours a day. We were worried about the Russians."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency once required and helped subsidize emergency warning systems. But today, FEMA neither pays for nor requires those systems.

Since Houston has never faced a nuclear attack from the Soviets, or anyone else, the sirens have never warned Houstonians of anything -- except the arrival of midday each Friday.

"We never use that siren system for anything except to blow it on Fridays and see if it works," Hawkins said.

The 42 sirens in place now are all inside the 610 Loop, having been installed before Houstonians moved to the suburbs. When one of those sirens falls into disrepair, it is virtually impossible to find replacement parts.

City officials at one time had planned to put in a new system. But the replacement of the existing sirens and the installation of 107 new ones -- mainly outside Loop 610 -- would cost the city more than $3.6 million.

The end of the siren system does not leave Houston unprotected. Five systems are already in place to notify people in case of emergencies, and those systems will continue to be used, Hawkins said.

Those systems are a cable override on television systems; emergency broadcast signals on television and radio; a severe-weather warning transmitted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; the Metro traffic system, which has access to more than 30 television and radio systems; and fire and police vehicles, which have public-announcement systems at isolated locations.

Houston's sirens will be junked or, if they work, possibly given to towns and smaller cities, where such a warning system could be effective in some situations, he said.

The siren's last wail will be made without fanfare, Hawkins said.

"We're just going to quietly turn off the power and that is it."

Mysterious T-Bolt 111
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Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:06 pm

So where those Whelens mentioned in this thread... http://airraidsirens.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11853... a replacement system?

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Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:10 pm

Am I looking at it from a weird angle, or does that blower box have five sides instead of four?
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theroofable
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Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:17 pm

I guess they didnt use them for fire calls.

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Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:46 pm

Urbanexplorer wrote:Am I looking at it from a weird angle, or does that blower box have five sides instead of four?
Nah the wooden planks below it are just messing with your eyes. I see what you mean, though. :P
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Thu Mar 22, 2012 2:04 pm

Mysterious T-Bolt 111 wrote:So where those Whelens mentioned in this thread... http://airraidsirens.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11853... a replacement system?
Those are still a mystery to me :?. They possibly could have added those to the existing system before they dissconected them, which would explain all of the Whelen radios on the Thunderbolts including mine. It is dated 7-10-86.

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There could be more Whelens at some of the schools. With the Whelens currently in place the entire southeast side is not covered.

http://g.co/maps/brw5m

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