House Sirens/Whistles

[OnTheWheel 43]

Has any department phased out the whistle/house siren systems? It seems that in this day and age every active member has a pager/scanner and the siren system seems to be redundant, and frankly annoying. I do agree that in the past they were a valuable tool in notifying members (and the public) of an alarm, but now your average Joe doesnt even bat an eye when they hear the sirens go off.

[rfdu39 89]

Rye has phased out their whistle.

[Guest]

We have restricted ours to daylight hours. I think it is after 8 am to 9 or 10 pm.

[joshlost818 6]

I know of many departments that still have the horn but are not used for calls. Some departments use them for floods etc. and there are the few that use them for school delays or cancellations.

[JBJ1202 27]

In years past we had a 5 HP siren on the top of the building that would blow 10 times every alarm. When the siren needed repair about 5 years ago they decided to go to a 3 HP siren and changed it to 4 times per alarm. Last year we decided to change it to daytime only (8am to 8pm). The siren also blows at noon monday to sunday.

We also have a siren on Barnes Lane that hasnt been used in at least 30 years that is a 10 HP, similar to the North White Plains siren that we can hear from our fire house today.

JBJ

[JM15 386]

All four firehouses in Somers have sirens on the roof. Protocol is four times for a possible fire and then again four times for a confirmed fire. No matter what kind of fire. It sounds any time of the day or night. It also sounds 1 round at noon every day. I was under the impression that NFPA required a secondary means of alerting members? Is that true?

[Stench60 29]

I don't know about the NFPA, but it is part of your ISO rating. If I recall correctly this has to be an immediate and uninterruptible means of alert, the text messaging that many claim as secondary means of dispatch doesn't qualify as it takes minutes at best and occasionally a day or two for messages to be received.

Edited March 15, 2008 by Stench60

[jcoppola 52]

My vol. organization (Belltown FD in Stamford) still has a functioning horn. I believe they still test it at 4:00 PM as has been tradition since I was a little kid growing up near the station and long before that. Frankly, I cannot see the significance of holding on to the horn when we are in an age of such sophisticated communications equipment. I know, I know, it can fail...Other than a civil emergency, when is it's use warranted? Most volunteers work during the day outside of the district and wouldn't hear it anyway. But...I can't argue with tradition even though its annoying.

JVC

[TL2L31 8]

I know of many departments that still have the horn but are not used for calls. Some departments use them for floods etc. and there are the few that use them for school delays or cancellations.

I know Rye used to have a horn system that also was a pa system for evacuations. When they rebuilt HQ was it eliminated or was it reinstalled?

[SageVigiles 1,194]

New Fairfield, CT still uses them, but only during daylight hours. Two of the three town whistles sound at 5 O'Clock (PM) as well, which is a long-standing tradition here.

Edited March 15, 2008 by SageVigiles

[helicopper 1,050]

I was under the impression that NFPA required a secondary means of alerting members? Is that true?

Doesn't EMTBravo count as a secondary means?

[OnTheWheel 43]

I like the daylight hours thing for "phase 1" of "operation phase out".

[DOC22 1]

I Like them the bigger the better! The more size the more noise! HAHAHAHA

[calhobs 110]

We use ours 24/7. People in our village seem to love it, the horn blows the box alram 3x.

[Guest]

We use ours 24/7 and every day at noon except for sunday

[jcoppola 52]

Doesn't EMTBravo count as a secondary means?

Funny you should say that...its what I use!

[firemoose827 324]

We still use the siren, 5 times for fire and once for EMS. It also gets tested every saturday at noon when the county sounds the roll call and siren test. Every station that has a neg test for either pager or siren is to call in to dispatch for repair and retest.

The one in Northport LI, where I grew up also sounded in the AM for school closings due to snow.

I believe we should keep them as a way to warn the public that the fire dept is responding to a call somewhere, I realise that to most its just another inconvenience to their day, but it still warns them to look out for warning lights and fire trucks.....Plus, I like them!

[hudson144 150]

5 pm whistle= Get your butt home for dinner!

[DaRock98 76]

Ours are on only during the day from 8am- 8pm and only for fire calls not ems calls. Our neighbors around the firehouse hate them and wished they never went off.

[Monty 35]

Curious whether anyone has the specifics to cite for nfpa or iso - this is one of the newly implemented EMT Bravo policies (reduce the urban myths).

Personally I think they are another tradition that has outlived its usefulness. How many people are hearing them to respond? How many people in their insulated cars or houses can hear them?

When I'm outside I can't tell who's siren it is anyway .... (Maube I'm just hearing impaired - that's what the wife says )

[JBE 328]

Used to be I could hear Carmel, Lake Carmel, and Kent's sirens from my house. Now I can hear West Hamilton Beach on a good day. Used to spend my summers about a block from the Somers siren in Shenorock by the lake. Used to scare the crap out of me. I don't think they have outlived their usefulness. As far as the neighbors are concerned, I would say the same thing I say to the locals who complain about apparatus sirens. It's always better to hear that siren and know help's on the way.

[Guest]

We still use it but only during the fire season, and even then only on confirmed rural fires, we have a nursing home next to our station and they don't appreciate it, something about the oldies diving for cover when it winds up , something along the lines of "don't mention the war" !!

[Guest]

Curious whether anyone has the specifics to cite for nfpa or iso - this is one of the newly implemented EMT Bravo policies (reduce the urban myths).

Personally I think they are another tradition that has outlived its usefulness. How many people are hearing them to respond? How many people in their insulated cars or houses can hear them?

When I'm outside I can't tell who's siren it is anyway .... (Maube I'm just hearing impaired - that's what the wife says )

In my district, it is on 24/7.

I am in favor of keeping it that way for us for the following reasons:

1. There are many "dead zones" where your telephone or pager will not work.

2. Many times, the transmission is stepped on or garbled.

3. At my main firehouse, there is a blind curve in the road bending behind the firehouse and often speeding vehicles come close to crashing into our apparatus.

4. At our other station, the road opens up before our fire station and many cars "take off" as if they are in a race to the finish line.

[Guest]

There was a wiskey called "Old Factory Whistle"---two toots and you were finished for the day.

[joshlost818 6]

I know Rye used to have a horn system that also was a pa system for evacuations. When they rebuilt HQ was it eliminated or was it reinstalled?

That is exactly what i am talking about and it was reinstalled at headquarters and it is tested about once a month to keep the spiders up.

[Remember585 815]

We used to have horns and house sirens. In the mid-90's we dumped the horns to accomodate resident complaints, and because the cost of fixing them wasn't worth it. We still have house sirens on all three stations and the Municipal Building.

However...

The siren on Grand Street firehouse crapped out last year and we are debating not replacing it. The one atop the Municipal Building is manually activated from the Police desk as a backup, so most times it isn't used. The only two working are atop Washington Engine and Harmon Firehouse.

But you can hardly hear them... I live a block and a half away from Station 2 and can not hear the siren unless I am outside or my window is open. Kind of a * issue to me.

In a few weeks we will be dispatched by 60 Control full-time, and getting that I-page is much, much better then a siren, at least in my opinion.

Hey wheel, I can hear your northside horn and siren as well as stuff in Rockland and occassionally Montrose better then our own from my deck along Route 9! Especially when you send a 6-6! (But most times when you go out with the 6-6 I take a ride to the firehouse anyway...)

[JBE 328]

Just out of curiosity, what happened to the siren that Lake Carmel had??

[Beekman 5]

Here are a few of the reasons my department had the siren rebuilt when the motor finally went bad;

1) It is connected to the Station fire alarm system. On one occasion some genius broke into my alarm panel and disconnected both phone lines for the dialers.

2) Dutchess doesn't have I-page and I've received several VA pages hours and even days later.

3) Didn't Putnam have a situation a few years back where they lost the communication system and had the Stations manned and used the sirens for calls for a few hours?

4) Yes it does remind the public that we still exist. I've also received letters from residents who go and acount for their children when they hear the siren. Hell some will go turn on their scanner and listen in. I've turned my portables on scan when I hear East Fishkill or UnionVale's sirens go off.

5) Anyone remember the wonderful Minitor 3's, before the recall, when the selector knob would switch between alert and monitor and not activate? I reponded to a brush fire only because I heard the siren.

6) If your house is on fire wouldn't you want to know that the Fire Department was dispatched and hear that siren????

6) Redundancy is the name of the game. Technology is great but I do remember sitting in the dark with the rest of the East Coast a few years back.

Just my thoughts.

[Guest]

Used to be I could hear Carmel, Lake Carmel, and Kent's sirens from my house. Now I can hear West Hamilton Beach on a good day. Used to spend my summers about a block from the Somers siren in Shenorock by the lake. Used to scare the crap out of me. I don't think they have outlived their usefulness. As far as the neighbors are concerned, I would say the same thing I say to the locals who complain about apparatus sirens. It's always better to hear that siren and know help's on the way.

i can also hear many depts' sirens from my house. valhalla, thornwood, north white plains, hawthorne and on a clear day grasslands. i think its a cool tradition, but all depts sirens are far enough away that they don't blow out my windows! the people i know who live in closer proximity to the sirens have good arguments, not only the noise that bothers them, but they're shy to have house parties and bbq's bc of the noise and a biggie is (was for some) decreased house/property value.

[Guest]

5) Anyone remember the wonderful Minitor 3's, before the recall, when the selector knob would switch between alert and monitor and not activate? I reponded to a brush fire only because I heard the siren.

6) If your house is on fire wouldn't you want to know that the Fire Department was dispatched and hear that siren????

unless you're indian point, i think the air-raid sirens are much more reliable then pagers.