Retrieval of a Federal Thunderbolt nuclear
air raid siren.
Civil Defense Nuclear Air Raid Sirens and Volunteer Firefighter all-call sirens
Jacksonville Florida
"On a hot July day in 1957, a new larger Civil Defense siren was placed in Hemming Park across from the St. James Building in downtown Jacksonville. Sirens were phased out as an emergency warning system in the early 1980's as it became more difficult to cover the whole growing community." (Excerpt and picture from the Florida Times Union newspaper)
The unit I have located is not like the one in the picture above. The one I have located is a Federal, Thunderbolt model.
This unit was installed in the early 1960's at Oak Hill Elementary school, where it stood for 30+ years. It was originally sounded / tested each Friday at noon.
There was a three phase 240 volt meter can that has had the meter removed and the lines cut to the pole.
A three inch galvanized pipe goes up from the blower up the pole to the horn. A weighted pressure relief valve is next to the blower.
I obtained permission to take this unit down and the last few pictures are of the actual disassembly of the unit. I will add more pictures as the project of restoration moves forward. I want to thank my friend Karl for helping. That's Karl in the pictures. The Fire truck you see in the picture belongs to me. I purchased it from Gainesville, Georgia in November 2003 and now use it in my party business FTFD.NET.
NOTE: Click on any of the pictures below to enlarge view. Use your browser's "BACK" button to return.
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| Blower / Motor Housing | The Whole thing | The Siren on top | Control panel | ||
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| Motor & Blower | Motor placard | Blower placard | My Snorkel Truck | ||
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| Control | Close-up | P.B. Blaster works!!! | Spraying Blaster | ||
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| Blower Assembly | Karl opening rotator | Rotator | Chopper & Horn | ||
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| Chopper Assembly | Rotator assembly | Conquered the Siren!!! | Next day.. Siren GONE!! | ||
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| Leaf blower duct taped to pipe to help siren work. | Me & the Thunder Bolt set-up on porch for testing. | ||||
| BLAST 01 | BLAST 02 | BLAST 03 | |||
| First trial blast (LOUD) | Test blast with no blower | Last Blast for a while...(Scaredy Cat) | |||
| Siren below was used to summon the Volunteer Firefighters at Mandarin Fire Station #42. | |||||
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| High atop Fire Station | Federal Signal Siren | Pretty rusted | Yep. Rusty. | ||
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| Former Siren Mounting | It's on the ground!! | Trailered up & ready to go | On the trailer. | ||
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| Three phase 100 amp breaker on left side | |||||
| Below, Are sirens that have met their demise, ending up in the scrap heap. Sad,,, really sad. | |||||
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