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Boston uses all of the same type of fire alarm box, made by Gamewell Co. of Newton, Massachusetts. However, there are different setups of the fire alarm box for different locations and needs. Each box has a unique four digit number, and the first two of the four numbers designate what section of the city the box is in. Masterboxes inside buildings use the number of the nearest street box and add a prefix number to the front of that (for example, if the nearest street box to Building A and Building B is 1234, then Building A would have a masterbox number of 12-1234 and Building B might be 13-1234). All masterboxes that are located in MBTA Stations have the masterbox prefix of "33-".

		Some fire alarm boxes are also mounted on the side of these circular stands, like this one at Walk Hill Street and Hyde Park Avenue in Jamaica Plain (box # 2562).
	LEFT, ABOVE LEFT: This is the typical BFD fire alarm box, located throughout the city. They are marked by a red gumball globe on top, and in some sections of the city, like Beacon Hill and Downtown, the globe is replaced with an older replica lantern light. This box, box # 3358, is at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Columbia Road in Dorchester.

These are examples of a "Phantom" boxes, which appear all over the city. "Phantom boxes" are box locations where the actual box has been removed for various reasons (for example, too many false alarms are received or the box is moved to a different location) but the stand has been kept. Some "phantom" boxes no longer have a box or a stand, but remain as listed locations in the Boston Fire Departments fire box location roster. The Boston Fire Department website lists 517 phantom street boxes and 118 phantom masterboxes. This "phantom" box is on Brookline Avenue in the Longwood Medical Area, and was once box # 2353.

LEFT: This manhole cover is located in Downtown Crossing in Boston. "HP FS" stands for "High Pressure Fire System." The Boston Fire Department retains a high pressure fire water system for fighting fires in various downtown locations. In the event of a fire where the high pressure fire system is operational, the fire alarm office in the Fenway turns on the high pressure system and notifies the chief of such. The chief can then request that the pressure be increased or decreased as needed. This manhole cover would be taken up, exposing a hydrant valve. A portable hydrant, known as a "lowry chuck," would then be screwed onto the valve and hoses connected to the chuck. RIGHT: A "BFD FA" (fire alarm) manhole cover still sits on the corner of Brookline Ave and Longwood Ave in the Longwood Medical Area, outside the former Chemical 3/Engine 37 station. These are not often seen in Boston now.

	ABOVE LEFT: Fire alarm boxes are often located on the side of telephone poles in residential sections of the city, such as this one at Dell Avenue and Central Avenue in Hyde Park (box # 3734). ABOVE: Some older fire alarm markers still appear around the city, such as this one, complete with radial fan wave reflector and ornamental mast, at Truman Highway and Wakefield Avenue in Hyde Park (box # 3789). LEFT: This is the typical BFD fire alarm box, located throughout the city. They are marked by a red gumball globe on top, and in some sections of the city, like Beacon Hill and Downtown, the globe is replaced with an older replica lantern light. This box, box # 3358, is at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Columbia Road in Dorchester.

SOURCES:

Creation of the Boston fire alarm box system:

The website of the Boston Fire Department (creation of the system and statistics on current amount of boxes in the city)

A complete list of Boston Fire Box locations

Information on the BFD's High Pressure Fire System

BOOKS AVAILABLE:

Schorow, Stephanie: Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston. Commonwealth Editions, 2003.

Two books by former Boston Fire Commissioner Leo Stapleton about his experiences in the Boston Fire Department include Thirty Years On The Line and The Commish. These (as well as many other firefighting books) are available from DMC Firebooks