June 16, 2009

Upgrades coming to WRT storm sirens

       White River Township’s fire chief wants to make sure families playing in a neighborhood park can hear a storm siren and find a safe place quickly.  That’s why the fire department is adding four new storm sirens and upgrading its existing three, which will more than double the township’s siren coverage.  Not all residents can hear the emergency sirens, including when they were activated last June on the day of the flood, Fire Chief Jeremy Pell said.  And early notification is the key to keeping people safe, he said.  One neighborhood that doesn’t currently have a siren is Friendly Village Mobile Home Park, where many residents were devastated by the floods and had to be rescued by boat.  “I definitely think it would have helped (to have more sirens),” Pell said. “When you think storm sirens, you don’t automatically think flood, but it would alert people to flip on their TV or radio and see what’s going on.”

         The four new sirens, with a range of about 1 mile, will be placed in areas of the township that never have had sirens, Pell said.  Existing sirens are at Sugar Grove Elementary School, Pleasant Grove Elementary School and the Center Grove School Corp. administration building.  About $100,000 the fire department received after selling a vacant station on Runyon Road will pay for all four new sirens and also will fund maintenance and improvements to existing sirens.  Neighborhoods that will have new sirens nearby include El Dorado I and II, Oak Meadows Mobile Home Community, Hearth at Stones Crossing retirement home and areas near State Road 37 and Smith Valley Road.  The new sirens will give the township nearly complete coverage, including some from sirens in Greenwood city limits that can be heard by White River Township residents, Pell said.  Upgrades to the existing sirens will put them on the same signal as Greenwood, which means all sirens in the northern part of the county will sound at 11 a.m. the last Friday of each month to test the system.  Currently, the township’s three sirens are linked to the county and don’t necessarily sound right at 11 a.m. during the monthly test, Pell said.  Regulations are in place for when the sirens are activated, such as during tornado warnings and during a combination tornado watch and severe thunderstorm warning.  Certain officials also can choose to set the sirens off. For example, the sirens would be activated at the order of Pell or Greenwood’s mayor or police chief.

         The sirens are activated about a half-dozen times a year, typically in the spring and summer when most severe storms occur, battalion chief Jim Engmark said.  They’re meant to alert residents that something is going on and that they need to seek shelter and turn on the television or radio. In a situation where a tornado rips across the township, sounding sirens early could be the difference between life and death, Pell said.  “We all know that early notification is key to surviving,” he said. “When there’s a fire, a smoke detector goes off, and when there’s a tornado, a storm siren goes off.”  The new sirens will be within earshot of two mobile home communities that are especially susceptible to storm damage, Pell said.  Sirens also alert people who are outside and may not have access to a television or radio, such as construction workers or people jogging or in their yards doing gardening.  The fire department took responsibility last year for maintaining the three sirens in White River Township, which originally were donated by Center Grove School Corp. and previously maintained by the county emergency management department and donations through Rotary Club.  About $1,200 is spent per siren each year for electricity and maintenance, including checks to make sure the sirens are wired properly and don’t have bird’s nests or other debris caught in them, Pell said.  Upgrades to the existing sirens and installation of the new sirens should be complete by the end of the summer, he said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 
    

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