Community Corner

Question: Why Is Light Flashing Outside Cap'n Jack's?

Lights are mounted to the front of other buildings in town, too. Why?

 

Welcome to You Ask, Patch Answers, a column in which you ask us a question about anything going on in town and we do our best to find an answer. Got a question you'd like to see Patch answer? E-mail it to: terry.date@patch.com

 

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We posed this question out of our curiosity.

Why is there a light mounted to the front of the former Cap'n Jack's Waterfront Inn, and why was it flashing when we drove past recently?

Find out what's happening in Swampscottwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We put this question to Swampscott Fire Chief Kevin Breen.

The amber beacon is designed to get people's attention, he said.

The flashing light indicates a problem with a building's fire alarm system. The thought is people will see the flashing light and report it, bringing it to the attention of the fire department.

According to the most recent police logs, a caller did exactly that last Wednesday morning — reported the flashing light outside the former Humphrey Street inn.

In the case of Cap'n Jack's Inn, the buiding's phone system was disconnected after the inn closed, and this triggered the flashing light, the fire chief said.

Numerous other buildings in town also have these yellow trouble signals attached to the facades.


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