"They've been around forever. It's just another sign of things in the past," (Police Chief Christopher) Hayward said.
Hayward was talking about the once bright red fire alarm boxes along LeRoy village streets that will soon be removed by an electrician.
Must everything old eventually be replaced, or might preserving the past be a community value worth keeping?
Daily News staff writer Scott DeSmit includes these interesting details:
The first boxes were made in 1852 and used the telegraph system. When the box was triggered, a spring-loaded wheel spun and tapped out a signal, which was telegraphed to a fire station.
Eventually, the boxes were linked to fire stations or dispatch centers using phone lines, about the only advance in technology the boxes ever underwent.
Of course, in these tight times, saving money is a virtue.
Each box has its own phone line, meaning the village will cut its phone bill by almost half by discontinuing the lines, Hayward said. The nine boxes, plus two fire sirens, accounted for $239 of the village's $650 monthly bill. The two sirens will remain.
DeSmit reports that none of the boxes have been used for a real incident in two years.
