**Update here is the article**
Partridge puts up new tornado siren
Larger siren capable of warning whole town
tornadosiren041906Westar employees lift the new Partridge tornado warning siren into place Tuesday afternoon. The 125-decibel siren will be used instead of the small siren on the side of the city's fire department building. Photo by Lindsey Bauman
By The News staff
PARTRIDGE - When a tornado was spotted near Partridge last year, a small siren on the side of the city's fire department building served as residents' only warning.
Once used to summon volunteers when there was a fire, the old siren couldn't be heard all over town, Mayor Dean Kitch said.
That prompted city officials to begin exploring installing a larger siren that would warn the whole town.
On Tuesday, city and Westar employees installed one on a pole a half-block off Main, near the center of town.
"This one you'll be able to hear," Kitch said. "It will more than reach the outer limits of the city."
The 125-decibel siren was purchased from surplus, Kitch said.
The siren and installation will cost about $2,500, he said.
"Westar is changing the transformer and so forth," Kitch said. "They're doing the work for a donation."
The siren is radio controlled, so storm spotters can activate it from wherever they are, Kitch said.
There probably will be a regular noon test of the siren once it's up, Kitch said, but the day of the week and frequency of the test haven't been determined.
"It seems like there are more warnings than there ever used to be," Kitch said. "We felt it was something we needed to do."
Also, at the new grade school is a storm shelter that is opened to the public whenever there's a warning, Kitch said.
"People can go to that if they elect to," he said.
