University of Calgary Kinesiology A

The University of Calgary is a public university in Calgary, and it has many interesting fire alarm systems. This building, Kinesiology A, has the most interesting fire alarmsystem of them all! This building was built in 1962, but the current system is from 2016. Still, all of the horns and most pull stations are original. Kinesiology B has voice-evac, unlike this one. This system has been very, very reliable according to campus security. False alarms are extremely rare.

System Specifications

• PLEASE NOTE: This is how the system looked as of March 5, 2020, and there were "fire alarm upgrades" in September 2020, so it may not reflect how the system looks today.

FACP

The fire alarm panel is a Simplex 4100ES InfoAlarm. It replaced an Edwards 6500 from the 1970s-80s. The 6500 was upgraded to the 4100ES in 2016 due to code requiring more detectors in the pool area and ductwork, and the 6500 not having enough zones to fulfill that requirement. Even though the Simplex 4100ES is addressable, the system is set up in a non-addressable manner. Most likely this system does code-3.

Notification Appliances

Very surprisingly, all of the notification appliances are original from 1962. They are Edwards 360 flush-mount "Adaptahorn" horns, aka "Fire Horns", however, the horns here don't have FIRE HORN on them. These models are 20 volts DC. No horns have been replaced, all still in use today!

One of the horns in this building

Initiating Devices

Pull Stations

Most pull stations are the original 1962 Edwards 270-SPO, with the E logo that has a square shield and "FIRE ALARM" at the top. Some have been replaced by Simplex 4251-20 or Simplex 2099-9754 (when the Edwards 6500 was in use) or newer Simplex 4099-9001 (when the 4100ES was installed). A few replacement 1970s-90s Edwards 270-SPO pulls can be found throughout the building, installed when the 6500 was in service.

Automatic Detection Devices

None noticed.