Fire siren seen as a "health hazard"

[Oldiesmann]

We all knew it had to happen at some point...

Homeowners in Hempfield's West Point neighborhood call their volunteer fire department's new fire siren a public health hazard that could cause hearing loss because its decibel level exceeds 100.

Residents Bill McLaughlin and Neal Connelly compare the wail to an air raid siren.

But Hempfield supervisors -- three of whom live in the area -- want independent information about the siren before they will consider using public funds to challenge in court whether it is a public nuisance.


Supervisors voted unanimously Monday night to have their fire inspector and public works director gather decibel meter readings for the West Point siren and compare it to the wails from two other companies with the same siren.

Some residents complained last night that the manufacturer touts the siren as reaching 130 decibels, although firefighters say their review found that the siren tops out at 115 decibels for those standing within 100 feet of it.

West Point's department used a state grant and its own funding to buy and install the siren last spring for an estimated $16,000. The company had been without a siren for the two years prior.

Assistant Fire Chief Miles Webb said the department made computer adjustments to cut the wail time in half from its initial 3-minute call.

But Dan Horner of Le Pointe Drive said it's so overpowering that two people standing 5 feet apart can't hold a conversation.

"It's really obtrusively loud," he said. "I know they tried some changes, but it didn't really abate (it)."

Richard Janesko of New Haven Drive said the siren might cause permanent hearing loss for residents.

"This can't be moved in any direction to appease anyone," he said.

Township Solicitor Les Mlakar said Hempfield would have no liability because of the department's siren, but the township would have a higher burden of proof than an individual property owner if supervisors chose to pursue a lawsuit claiming the siren is a public nuisance.

If the matter were to go to court, it would be a court's judgment whether a person's right to be free of the noise is greater than the "necessary inconvenience" of a fire siren, he said.

Supervisor Tom Logan made the motion to test the decibel levels. An estimated six of the township's 12 fire companies have a similar siren.

Logan wants township officials to diagram how the sirens are mounted and how far they are from residences.

"We can't make any kind of decision without more information," he said.

Supervisors Bob Davidson, Doug Weimer and John Bossi live in the West Point neighborhood but were careful with their comments last night.

"We want to work with everybody to make some sort of a happy medium here," Bossi said.

West Point fire officials bought the siren after getting a recommendation from Carbon's company, which uses the same type.

"They don't mean to harm anybody," said Kim Houser, attorney for the West Point department. "They love the community. They aren't trying to create offense to anybody."

Another resident, Chris Kent, Southwest Greensburg police chief, said he thinks it would be a disservice if the department is forced to disable its siren because the area is notorious for poor radio, pager and cell signals.

"I think by eliminating an audible alarm in that community, I think that would be a great injustice to everybody," he said.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune ... 84896.html

[acoustics101]

An exposure to 100 dB for 3 minutes wouldn't even begin to violate OSHA rules, but exposures to SPLs > 115 may. Here are the OSHA permissible exposure levels vs time.
http://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/noise/ ... _more.html

Unless you are standing closer than a few hundred feet on axis to even the loudest unit, I doubt that you would see anything in excess of the OSHA limits for a 3 minute exposure. You could always walk away or go inside. FEMA CPG 1-17 states minimum mounting heights for various units that would limit maximum exposure on the ground to no more than 123 dB from any distance. An actual violation may occur if the particular unit were not installed at regulation height.

We all knew it had to happen at some point...

Homeowners in Hempfield's West Point neighborhood call their volunteer fire department's new fire siren a public health hazard that could cause hearing loss because its decibel level exceeds 100.

Some residents complained last night that the manufacturer touts the siren as reaching 130 decibels, although firefighters say their review found that the siren tops out at 115 decibels for those standing within 100 feet of it.

[SirenMaster2000]

Another resident, Chris Kent, Southwest Greensburg police chief, said he thinks it would be a disservice if the department is forced to disable its siren because the area is notorious for poor radio, pager and cell signals.

All the better to HAVE the siren so you can warn the area of severe weather and such.

[EL1998P71]

Residents could always go indoors or put their fingers in their ears.

[MattDean1003]

This is stupid. Just something else to gripe and complain about. Like a few years ago, well like 8 or 9, I was helping Bogart out with putting up a siren in the middle of town, and from what I understood, there was a couple of people from "a surrounding town" where they wouldn't release the name of, and because it was only used twice in a few years, it was a bad investment.

Stupid really.

[Franz?]

Sounds to me like another town populated by people too damn stupid to survive in South Park.

They just gotta maintain their property value so the foreclosure agent will sell it for enough to take them off the hook.

[kanazo]

I wonder what the people that live close to airports would have thought...

[Oldiesmann]

I wonder what these people would say if their house burned down when the department couldn't get hold of fire fighters due to bad radio/cell/pager signals?

[CDV777-1]

FEMA CPG 1-17 states minimum mounting heights for various units that would limit maximum exposure on the ground to no more than 123 dB from any distance. An actual violation may occur if the particular unit were not installed at regulation height.

Refer to page 22 of this PDF file.....
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/docs/femacpg1-17n.pdf

If the siren is mounted too low you could get close enough to it on the ground to cause hearing damage. If it's mounted high enough you wouldn't be able to get close enough to it at ground level to cause hearing damage. All that department has to do I make sure the siren is high enough.

[Rheems1]

I was wondering how long it would take for this to make the papers... alright here is the story. Hempfield Township is a large township that surrounds the city of Greensburg, Pa in Westmoreland County..... thier sirens included mostly 2/3T22's with a Model 5, an STH-10 and an STL-10 thrown in for good measure. West Point's siren was some kind of unknown contraption... it was most likely no more than 3HP. Hempfield Township has now started doing a siren upgrade for weather emergencies and such.... these sirens are being replaced by 2001's now. The people around the West Point station started complaining the minute the 2001 was put up and haven't stopped since. What a bunch of whiney douche bags.... they are all up scale weinies too... the kind that would build a house next to the airport and than demand the planes take a different flight path so they don't rumble thier house. Well... I say F*** em'... I hope Hempfield Township puts up a 2001 in each of these people's front yards!! The West Point siren is mounted about 25 feet or so up in the air.. no where near the ground... so they have no room or rights!!!

Dave