Update – Here’s why there was a statewide 911 outage

Here is what to do if there is an emergency and 911 is not working:

Reach out to your local police district bpdnews.com/districts

Call 311 during this time

You can also pull the firebox to request emergency services – the fireboxes are those red fireboxes you see in the neighborhood.

History of the Fire Box System

Did you know that Boston has the first electric fire alarm system in the world?  There are over 1200 signal stations, also known as “boxes,” in the fire biz, operating all over the city.  (You know those red fire boxes you see in the neighborhood.)

This system was installed in the city way back in 1852 and received its first call on April 29th at 8:25pm.  The signal came through box number 7 in District One (now known as box 1212) – located at the corner of Cooper and Endicott Streets.  There was a small building fire at the corner of Charleston and Causeway Street spotted by a citizen named J.H. Goodale who rang the alarm.  And well, the rest is history.

This system is still used to this day and has receives over 9,000 calls per year through 1200 boxes throughout the city.  According to the Boston Globe, this system is so efficient in helping reduce property loss and deaths due to fire, it’s been adopted through the US and Canada.

So there you go!