I've received more than a few emails related to the new siren and accompanying testing.
The plan is to test the system on Monday for Fire and Thursday for Mass Alert.
So far, the siren has sounded at a variety of times for seemingly different durations on different nights.
Tonight, Monday, the first siren went off briefly at 6:46, then I counted four blasts of what I would have thought to be the fire siren, one blast of static, and two attempts at replicating the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" movie theme. If it were simply the fire siren, I'd agree the system was being 'tested', however, tonight's sequence seemed more like playing with a new toy.
I hope as we have a better understanding of the system there will be more consistency. I also think we could eliminate the Thursday test and simply say if it doesn't sound like the fire siren it is a mass alert turn on your radio or tv to learn more.
10 comments:
I know alot of people are not home during the day when the alarm rings
and I want to tell every one that I
contacted the mayor about the current siren. Mayor Keller stated to me that he "knew it was going to
be a problem" and continued anyway with the current sound. My dog howls every time the alarm rings.
Friday the alarm rang for atleast 10 minutes. I understand the necessity of the alarm but maybe a different tone could be used. I think every dog in Nazareth and parts of Upper Nazareth are are howling each time the fire alarm rings. I work from home home for a large company and yes Nazareth Borough gets my $52 a year for working in the borough. I just can't understand why if the mayor was told the current siren would be a problem, why the borough followed through with it.
I live up in Eastern Upper Nazareth, yet I can still hear the alarm. And yes, my two dogs go crazy....
I am at home during the day and I am so tired of hearing the siren. I am just "tuning it out. They better notify the citizens when they are done testing; because like the boy who cried wolf, no one will know when the siren is for a real emergency or just another numerous and annoying test.
I TOTALLY agee with annonymous 6:22:
The sirens in the boro and Upper Naz have been sounding so frequently I thought the world was ending....except it happens every other day! My dogs also go nuts...they have always done so with Upper Naz siren, but now these two sirens are going off multiple times per day and frequently at or near the same times. I'd love to tune them out, but the dogs won't allow it!
that lovely sound just went off again! love it!
When your house is on fire and your watching for the firetrucks there is no sweeter sound. Your dogs will get over it. Let's try to keep this in perspective folks, the noise is nothing compared to the devestation of an accident or fire. The testing won't last forever.
Steven,
I appreciate everything that volunteer fire fighters do.
What I found out attending Council meetings was that every fireman has a pager.
For that reason we don't operate the alarm during certain hours and could respond during the time we didn't have the old alarm.
In light of this I re-question the need for an alarm system, but the Council has already made the purchase, so let's get the most value possible.
The monday testing did last forever, but it was a single blast right on the hour and people understood it.
Maybe we got used to no sound and the alarms during the day seem excessive, but I've heard full blasts, partial blasts, static, and keyboard playing. It simply doesn't sound like a test, but instead like trying to figure out a new toy.
This type of testing should have been done prior to purchase or post-purchse but not in public.
I would also like to agree that what the volunteers do is above and beyond and much appreciated by those that they help.
The problems seems to be in all the testing. I'm not sure how you are supposed to know when there is a test and when there is something going on.
I live in Upper Naz, so when both sirens are going, you tend to think "major" problem i.e., Gracedale, school, major accident. That is what is frustrating.
annon:
that "lovely sound" you complained about last night at 9:56 was in response to a 911 call I was making and I have to tell you it was very reassuring to hear it go off while I was still on the phone with the 911 operator
we had a young man wipe out on his motorcycle on the road in front of our house, he was down and injured and the first to arrive was a volunteer emergency vehichle (you know those unmarked cars you see speeding to the scene) and the road we live on can be treacherous with excessive speeding and blind topography so his arrival could have very well helped the other vehicles from plowing into the motorcycle that was down and not visible from the road as it was just over an incline--it weighed over 500 lbs and my husband could not lift it---
so i am thinking the volunteer was alerted by the siren? if so thank goodness for that "annonying sound" and hopefully the testing will become set at the mon and thurs 7 o'clock times
Just to clarify, if this accident had occurred at 1:00 a.m. no siren would have sounded and all individuals would have been notified via their pager according to the last Council meeting.
I personally wonder why the fire siren is required during the day but not at night, and if it isn't needed at night, why is it during the day?
To date the testing has done the system a disservice. One blast at 7:00 p.m. on Monday would be tolerable. The twenty minute barrage this past Monday was not.
I also would like a better definition of emergency for the mass alert system. Right now the borough web site states
"Severe Weather Emergencies
Any type of severe weather warning specific to the Nazareth area; example: tornado, thunderstorm, flash flooding, winter weather etc.
Hazardous Materials Incidents (that may result in a “stay indoors” type situation)
Catastrophic Fires (that may result in an evacuation of Borough residents)
Mass Evacuation of Borough Residents (due to any type of emergency)"
Obviously there is value in the event of a spill or environmental disaster, but winter weather?
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