digital on Tulsa Fire?

[car2back]

Heard digital traffic on the Tulsa Fire District 3 Tactical TG (35984) on my way to work tonight (about 10:15pm)

any ideas on what it could have been?

 

[OkRob]

I heard a very short data burst on one of the TFD talk groups this morning on my way to work as well, but I was driving and not sure which ID it was on. I thought it might have been sent to open the Knox box on one of the trucks and wasn't monitoring close enough to know if someone had requested to have their box opened, so not sure if that was what it was, but I think it may have been.

- Rob

 

[crayon]

What is in a Knox box?

 

[rdale]

A master key to the building.

 

[CommShrek]

Electronic box inside of a fire truck where risque firefighting devices are held. Activated by a signal from dispatch. Only the good looking dispatchers (Is there such a thing?) can open them.

 

[KD5WLX]

A Knox Box actually two things. When a builder builds a building, the build a hardened steel locker into the front of the building (set deep into the exterior wall) with a key-locked door. A master key to the building is placed inside and the box is locked.

The second piece is a Knox Box on the truck - it's a sturdy box bolted to the chassis with a radio activated (DTMF or digital burst code) to activate the lock. Inside this box is the key that opens all the boxes in the buildings that are keyed the same (or maybe a keyring with several keys).

When you get an automatic alarm in the middle of the night, instead of waiting on the keyholder or forcing entry, you call dispatch, the "pop" the box on the truck, you take out the master key that opens the box on the building, then use the master key to the building that's in the buildings box to get in and find the problem. Without this setup, either (A) the FD carries a thousand keys or (B) the building owner pays more for insurance, partly based on how long it takes a keyholder to get on scene (they figure either they pay for more fire damage due to delayed access or they pay for the damage the FD does forcing the door).

This setup allows the FD to carry only a few (or one) key (to the box) AND to maintain accountability for that key (shift captain can't take it home, chief (via dispatcher) knows who got it out last, and whe they put it back, etc. If the FD didn't maintain accountability for the key, they'd never put THEIR key in the building's box.

 

[CommShrek]

Thanks for saving me the typing Jay.