The Siren Board

Phantom - Let us know how the complaint department goes regarding the T-Bolts with the community. It has been awhile since EFFD has had any form of an audible system, so I'm sure the BOFC phone lines will be ringing.
FedTB - I am a 17 year volunteer and am trying my hardest to guide my FD with an audible system again. So far we have been able to get two new model 2's and a STH10 up and running. They own a model 5 high-tone that I have recently painted but it needs new bearings. I also have two more model 5 high tones and one model 2 I purchased and would like them to use. The problem we are having is that our current BOFC (Board of Fire Comm.) have no "balls" and are very intimidated by a few complaining community members on the use of the sirens. I also think 2 out of the 5 BOFC members are not into sirens since we have a pager system.

Why annoy everyone, including sleeping children and babies and nightworkers, with sirens, when/if everyone has pagers?

Fire sirens are good, but to keep the neighbors happy and the siren blaring, you need to do the following:

#1 - Keep the cycle short. You don't need a siren going off a full 3 minutes for a fire call. One minute is sufficient.

#2 - Only sound them for "real" calls. yYou don't need the siren going off for every EMS call under the sun. Save it for when the volunteers are really needed.

#3 - Shut them down at night. This is the biggest complaint any FD will receive and I can't say I blame people for it. If there is a fully involved structure fire, let that thing wail away at 2am, but for something like a fire alarm activation, just keep it completely silent between 10pm and 8am.

I haven't read the LIFA boards for awhile, since they've been down, but I seem to remember (I think???) that some departments there do not activate the sirens after a certain time at night, maybe 10 o'clock? Cyrun, can you verify this?

Back in the early 1970's I lived about a quarter-mile or so from a career department's fire station in southern St. Louis County. That station was built in 1957 and was originally served by volunteers. On top of the station's hose tower roof was a red single tone Model 2, and that thing would go off every time the pumper went out on a call, fire or EMS, no matter what time of the day or night it was. I can still remember it going off in the middle of the night sometimes. By then it was used to warn oncoming traffic that the pumper was responding on a call.

Since that station, and entire department by then, was career, the siren ideally should've been diconnected. But, being interested in a fire service career even back then as a kid, it was very cool to hear the siren wail, because it told me and my friends that the fire truck was going out on a call, and we'd run up to the street corner to watch it go by, if it made a left out of the station! A few years later they finally stopped activating the roof siren altogether.

That fire station is going to be replaced soon, and the old Model 2 still sits on top of the hose tower roof, though a little rusty now. I have made mention that I wouldn't mind having the old fire siren. I know several people that work at that department and plan on asking some if I could possibly have it, unless one of their people wants it.

Sorry to ramble on; just going down Memory Lane!

It is a good thing when you have firefighters that are interested in the siren because they would have the ability to have some say on it's use. At least most of the time, Long Island has the Boards of Fire Commissioners that seem to rule over everything... I will reserve my feelings on them other than to say thank God we don't have that type of b*******t to deal with here in Pa. I am a 14 year firefighter here in Pa and I fought very hard to keep our siren... but I was up against a number of people (and a pissed off borough councilman) so I lost that battle. All of the people who were so in favor of getting rid of it though have now started talking about how I was right.. and we shouldn't have gotten rid of the siren... and they wish we still had one... ect, ect. I am glad that East Farmingdale decided to put sirens back up though, I was a member of LIFA for many years and there were alot of really passionate people over there that fought really hard for sirens. I can't imagine the female dog that must go on out on "The Island"... they not only have sirens at the stations.. but they have satelite sirens scattered all over the place as well. Either way, congrats to East Farmingdale... it is nice to see people putting up sirens again.

Dave

KEEP THE SIRENS at the ready for tornadoes and in case the paging system fails.
But don't sound them for calls for which pagers summon fire department personnel.
Sound them once a month to keep people aware of them and to test them.
It's a big mistake to take down a functioning siren.

Yes - The LIFA forum has been down for a very long time. I don't have a answer for that but hope it one day is back-up.

As far as Long Island FD's go, each department has it's own policy on siren usage, so it would be impossible to talk about here. Most probably use discretion on use during the evening though. We use them from 7am-7pm on all calls.

I will never agree that just because a paging system is in place that an audible system is no longer needed in a volunteer FD. That was one of the biggest topics on LIFA forum.

Cyrun wrote:...I will never agree that just because a paging system is in place that an audible system is no longer needed in a volunteer FD. That was one of the biggest topics on LIFA forum.

As much as I like sirens, there are too many places/conditions where one cannot hear them.
I know a volunteer who was driving not far from his station and did not know there was a fire until he saw HIS apparatus responding to a fire!
Another occasion I was visiting and was playing organ at a church. I was not playing loudly but missed hearing the Peebles VFD siren a few blocks away.
Aren't pagers and Minitors far better and moreliable?

Robert Gift wrote: Aren't pagers and Minitors far better and moreliable?

Yes, but these places use both, not just the sirens.

i can understand how some of you are enthusiastic about sirens but you need to understand somerthing about this one:
The one on the corner of wellwood ave and 17th street is in a residential neighborhood.
It is within 50 feet of some peoples homes.I myself live about 3 houses away from it.
It has given decibel readings well OVER 109
It goes off several times a day all week long and on the weekends.
It rotates, so at some point it is facing right at you. this makes it impossible to be outside without the possibility of PERMANENT hearing damage.
Good luck to my neighbors that work nights and used to sleep during the day

I'm sure some of you are aware of the efects of decible levels and hearing loss:
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) - this is hearing loss due to exposure to either a sudden, loud noise or exposure to loud noises for a period of time. A dangerous sound is anything that is 85 dB (sound pressure level - SPL) or higher.

how many of the firemen posting on here live that close to one? any of you have small children? would you want them exposed to it every day?