Cheyenne, WY Warning Siren History

[4J25]

Recently, I've become a bit infatuated with the history of Cheyenne, Wyoming's warning sirens. After doing some research, a helping of interesting information was uncovered, and I would love to share it with you all. With that said, let's get started:

Original System:
To be perfectly honest, there isn't much to go off of for the earliest system in Cheyenne. I've searched high and low for installation years but came up dry. What I do know is that the original system consisted of at least three Thunderbolt 1000Ts, located on the municipal building, the YMCA, and Carey Junior High School.

Municipal Building Thunderbolt:


YMCA Thunderbolt:


Carey Junior High School Thunderbolt:


1979- Tornado:
On July 16, 1979, an EF-3 tornado tore through northern parts of Cheyenne, injuring 40 and killing 1. Many residents complained that sirens were not heard, and it shows in this video from 1979:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZjBYtMq2xw

With northern Cheyenne in shambles, many of the populous in shock, and little to no notification occurring throughout the event, it became obvious that more sirens were needed. Starting in 1980, residents began to make the first moves. Various neighborhoods began going door-to-door for donations. Those in the Buffalo Ridge subdivision had their eyes set on a "screamer" siren. State Farm offered $68,400 in matching grants. It was quite the movement.



Mid 1980- The Sirens Arrive:
By early June of 1980, three sirens had arrived in Cheyenne, with another eight on order. According to the Casper Star-Tribune, both Buffalo Ridge Elementary and the Sun Valley subdivision were to recieve "cyclone systems". This would hold true, as the city was ordering Banshees and Cyclones from ACA. By 1982, the city had 14 sirens total. Before long, this number climbed to 17. This consisted of the original Thunderbolts, along with the Banshees and Cyclones. I have been able to pinpoint 13 of the former ACA siren sites, along with one Banshee that is still standing but not operational. As far as I can tell, they never did get that Screamer... The locations were as follows:

ACA Cyclone: Jessup Elementary School
ACA Cyclone: Buffalo Ridge Elementary School
ACA Cyclone: East High School
ACA Cyclone: United Nations Park

ACA Banshee: Alley between Malibu Court and Bonneville Place
ACA Banshee: Intersection of Yellowstone Road and Carlson Street
ACA Banshee: Mylar Park
ACA Banshee: Cheyenne Fire Station #5
ACA Banshee: Dildine Elementary School
ACA Banshee: Goins Elementary School

The standing Banshee is located at Deming Elementary School.



Here's a little tidbit about an accidental activation in '82, this is also how I know they only had 14 sirens by then:


And here's a handful of the ACA system:

Buffalo Ridge Elementary:


Dildine Elementary:


Fire Station 5:


United Nations Park:


1991- "Addition":
During a tornado warning in 1991, many office workers around the capitol complex reported that they could not hear the fire station siren. This is odd, considering the Thunderbolt is only a quarter of a mile away. Nevertheless, the state set aside $5000 and a new STH-10 was placed atop the Hathaway building, a five-story government building across from the Supreme Court of Wyoming and down the street from the state capitol.

It can be seen in this aerial shot:
Hathaway Building STH-10:


Something notable about this article is the mention of a speaker system atop the capitol building.


1999- Inadequacies
To put it plain and simple: Cheyenne outgrew it's siren system, and the sirens got old. After many years of service, Cheyenne began to refer to its sirens as "outdated" and "obsolete". Apparently they were having difficulties finding parts for their sirens, and were having problems with many of them- lightning and radio issues to name a few.



2002- The Replacements Arrive
In early 2002, fresh, brand new Federal Signal 2001-SRNs begin to arrive from Illinois. By April, 30 2001s stand throughout Cheyenne and other parts of the county. All of the ACA sirens are removed not long after, except for the Banshee at Deming Elementary. The STH-10 appears to have been removed around 2013. It appears that the Thunderbolts atop the YMCA and Carey Junior High School were also removed within a couple of years. They did, however, run along with the 2001s for a period of time, as showcased by these videos from uwtitanfan:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdEPbuScx0g



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nEnXd3c450

There is also this video from Ivan Venegas, which seems to actually be shot from the Hathaway Building of all places. This video was taken in 2010, which leads me to believe that the STH-10 was decommissioned a while before removal, and may well have been removed due to renovations on the roof:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm91gH1Dois



Goins Elementary School Banshee and replacement 2001:


Deming Elementary School Banshee and replacement 2001:


2015 and beyond- The End of an Era:
In 2015, Laramie County added 15 2001-130s throughout the city and the county. Most notably, the last remaining Thunderbolt on the Municipal Building was replaced. This left only the Banshee at Deming for any semblance of the past.

Here is the Thunderbolt sounding in 2009, and with this is becomes more evident as to why it was replaced:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ljem5sl7Tg

2015 Siren Additions:
https://www.laramiecounty.com/_departme ... System.pdf

Since then it appears they've been adding more and more as time goes on.

The only thing I didn't really cover was Warren Air Force Base on the west side of Cheyenne. They have a few Whelen 2900s and what appears to be a 15V or 20V2T, which looks like it may have replaced a Banshee or Cyclone.

Thanks for reading!

Also, here's an awesome synth by Tristan. This is meant to simulate the system as it would have been from the early 80's into the late 90's:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPw9S9Yn3Xk

[Tyler]

Thank you Christian, very cool!

[fire_freak_57]

Amazing info!
It's great to see some old ACA Cyclone 120's too (those were the first model before the Cyclone 125).

Also something in one of those newspaper cutlines was interesting below the picture of one of the new (at the time) 2001-SRN's awaiting installation. The caption (or how journalists like me call it, a cutline) says: "The new sirens . . . will be much louder than previous designs. They are rated at 128 decibels, compared to the old 45-75 decibel models."

Something interesting to note is that every siren manufactured has to undergo testing at some point, and they have to be at least 15db above ambient sound levels. This means that they have to be over 75db, since that is a typical ambient sound level in an environment with traffic/road noise, etc.

In other words, the last part of that statement is flat out incorrect. Even fire alarms have to be over 75 decibels at minimum per UL. Not all sirens are UL certified, but they still have to meet that standard in order to comply with Federal regulations. To my understanding they have to be a minimum of 100db.

[4J25]

I'm relatively certain these are 125s. The 125 didn't always have that big bulky intake on the bottom, and these look like they have straight stators, in contrast to the beveled stator that the 120 had. I believe the 120 would also have been dropped from the lineup around this time. Either way, streetview leaves a lot to be desired.

And yea, that rating is total bogus.

[Chem_Boffin_6589]

I think they're 120s, primarily because they all appear have the larger P-50 motor shroud around them which I only know Cyclone-120s to have. At least the UN Park one does.

And journalism rears its ugly head again taking decibel ratings at different places out of context. What a shame.

[4J25]

You know, you might be right on that. I never actually noticed the difference in the slope of the housing until just now. Thanks for pointing that out!

[flatlandsparky]

The Capitol building speaker system you mentioned, one of the horns and its controller was on display last summer at the Wyoming State Museum. It's probably still there.

[Stag]

What an awesome system, I wish information about the history of siren systems and how they've changed over the years was an easier sort of information to come by.
Great job compiling it all!