In the early 1900s, the Village of Ridgewood was an early adopter of a brand-new technology for notifying firefighters of an emergency in the form of a Gamewell box repeater system (as pictured above). In a time when private homes did not have telephones, the Gamewell system was the only way to communicate to the town that assistance was needed. Upon the activation of the system, a giant bell would ring at the fire house (in later years the bells were replaced with sirens.)
The Village’s first system had 11 Gamewell boxes, but currently there are over 320 throughout Ridgewood. Most of these are located on streets, but there are some located in buildings such as schools, churches, and large apartment buildings. One of the advantages of the Gamewell system is that it notifies the Fire Department immediately and directly of a fire or incident, without being routed through a third-party monitor. The system also does not require electricity, so it can be counted on to work if power is out and cell coverage is down. But it does have a few disadvantages. It will notify the Fire Department that there is a need for assistance and the location, but it has no way of communicating what the problem is. So, in the event that a Gamewell box is used, we ask that you wait by the box until assistance arrives.
Gamewell boxes within the buildings are automatically activated via the fire alarm system.