CFD Communications History

History of Charlotte Fire Communications

“Fire Alarm”      

Information provided by National Board of Fire Underwriters Report 1933

Charlotte Fire Communications was established in 1897 under the supervision of Fire Alarm Superintendent W.A. Cruse and was housed on the second floor of old Fire Station 1 at 125 S Davidson St.  The current location is on the second floor of Fire Station 1 at 221 N Myers St.

Fire Alarm utilized a Gamewell Automatic Fire Alarm system with a 14 circuit switchboard located in Fire Alarm.  Boxes were located at all major intersections and at major businesses in the city.  In 1933 Fire Alarm maintained 271 boxes throughout Charlotte.  Each Fire Station, Police Headquarters and the local Newspaper office contained a Gong which would sound when a box was pulled.  A Box Alarm would transmit the box number 4 times over the system and activate the gongs.

Fire Alarm contained 5 incoming dedicated phone lines specifically dedicated to emergencies.  The switchboard also contained a phone line to each Fire Station, Police Headquarters and the Fire Chiefs office.  In the event an emergency was reported over the telephone, the Fire Alarm operator would transmit the nearest box number over the alarm system using a break wheel transmitter and then transmit the location over a 50 watt fire-police radio.  If a verbal alarm was transmitted to a Fire Station, the OIC would phone Fire Alarm and the operator would transmit the box as if it were a phone alarm.  In 1933 the Charlotte Fire Department responded to 1,208 alarms, 424 of which were box, 771 were phone, and 13 were verbal.  By 1972, Fire Alarm was dispatching over 5,000 calls for service.

In 1973, Fire Alarm utilized a 460 MHz Radio System with 5 Channels, 1 dispatch channel and 4 operations channels, one for each geographic area of the city.

Due to the rising number of false pull boxes, 911 was put in place in 1979.  The Gamewell system was phased out during the 1980’s, eventually resulting in the removal of all of the pull boxes in the city.  By 1987, Fire Alarm was dispatching over 26,000 calls for service. 

In 1988, Enhanced 911 was installed in Fire Alarm, improving the ability to locate citizens in the event of an emergency.  Also in 1988 Fire Alarm installed it’s first Computer Aided Dispatch System(CAD).  This was a simple system which allowed the Telecommunicator to enter an address and have the computer output a response according to a status availability board.  This replaced the manual “book” method of dispatching calls for service.

In 1990, Fire Alarm upgraded it’s Radio system to an 800 MHz Trunked System.  This system still in used today and is utilized by all agencies in the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.  This system is the busiest and largest trunking system in North America.

In 2003, Fire Alarm upgraded it’s CAD system to a high tech, integrated system which allows a Telecommunicator to track the movement of apparatus, receive EMS calls directly from Mecklenburg County EMS and automatically input E911 information into a call for service.  In 2004, Fire Alarm dispatched over 73,000 calls for service.

 

Today, Fire Alarm employs over 36 Telecommunicators and is in the process of placing a Field Communications unit in service.  The call volume continues to increase on a yearly basis with 2006 on pace to top 82,000 calls for service.