Silent sirens get reset after not sounding
4:36 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, 2008
This is what the sirens are supposed to sound like, but many came up silent on Monday.
Dave Sterbenz, Director of Shawnee County Emergency Management, says they will keep testing them.
"We have 60 sirens that are working. I had a call this morning where we think there might be two more that didn't work," said Sterbenz.
About 12 didn't sound, and the county isn't sure why.
"There's not any certain brand. It's all spread out through all the different brands and different model years," said Sterbenz.
A company that specializes in sirens checked out the ones that didn't work.
"Blue Valley is here and he is manually re-setting the sirens," said Sterbenz.
Blue Valley worked on the box near the top of the siren. He also worked on a machine in his van.
"We set it off with his tone code a second ago and now he's up there making sure it's still going to do it," said Sterbenz.
Blue Valley and Sterbenz are going to every site that didn't go off.
"Some of the sirens are actually approaching 50 years old, but those weren't the ones that didn't work yesterday," said Sterbenz.
Feeding the siren pig
The Capital Outlay Budget sets aside money every year for sirens. $40,000 to $45,000 is set aside every year for five years to install two new sirens. The money either goes to replacing old ones or adding new sirens. Since 2002, the county has replaced or added two new sirens every year.
The cost to replace one siren, "Over$20,000," said Sterbenz.
And to replace all of them, "Times 72," said Sterbenz.
Sterbenz says all of the sirens don't need to be replaced, but finding out why so many sirens didn't go off is a must.
"If we could identify a pattern it would make my job a whole lot easier," said Sterbenz.
Sterbenz says they will keep working until they figure out the problem. But, be aware the sirens will be tested and, if they work, should sound over and over again on Monday.
"Next week we will be doing the back-up system, but we're going to use the main system, too. Next week, be prepared to hear the sirens more than once," said Sterbenz.
Comments
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Apr. 29, 2008 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)kswx29 (anonymous)
Glad to hear they might be working now. I spend time outside a lot and there has been times where the sirens were the only way i knew of tornado warnings. I sure hope they don't take them down or anything.
Apr. 30, 2008 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)coyoteffl (anonymous)
The sirens are a GREAT IDEA. I favor funding to fix or replace the ones that we have and fund EVEN MORE if it is deemed prudent.
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