Hey guys, I'm new to the website but I've always been fascinated by the air raid sirens in my town and then came across the many tornado warning videos on YouTube that sparked greater interest. So, I emailed the fire chief in my town ( Bay Shore, Long Island, NY) and got some information on the sirens:
- There are 4 sirens, which are located on the Main HQ on Fifth Avenue, another behind the high school in the lot for Town of Islip maintenance yard, Orinoco Dr. Next to the LIRR near Manor Ln. by the public water tower in West Bay Shore, and the last at Station 2 on Tillie Street, east of Brook Avenue.
- The sirens are still used today and are tested every Wednesday and Saturday at Noon, and the siren is only used on certain calls such as structure fires, heavy rescue, mutual aid calls, water rescues, etc. they use to be used for EVERY call but several years ago a certain part of the community complained about how frequent they were going off so the fire district decided to limit the siren for certain high priority calls now.
-The chief isn't sure what type of siren tone is used as far as being alert, attack, all clear, etc. and which function they're used for.
-The sirens are NOT used for any weather related emergencies as of now despite numerous tornado warnings in recent years and a few tropical storms and hurricanes hitting long island. The chief did say this "However, with weather predictions and forecasts becoming more and more reliable it is an option that we would consider using in the future."
that's all the info I got from the chief last night, I sent another email asking if he knew what brand, model and if they're mechanical or electric sirens, if the FD or town of Islip, Suffolk county, or NYS OEM or State fire conduct and run the tests and upgrades and maintenance and provide funding for the sirens, and I asked if any of the sirens are showing age and are slated for a replacement anytime soon. Hopefully he gets back to me with info. I'm also going to try and take pictures of the sirens but I don't want to raise any eyes since its not normal to be taking pictures of a fire house on a busy road in the era of terrorism.
So, are there any other members from Long Island that have info and pictures on their towns sirens? Also do any long island, or Northeast towns or local municipalities use the sirens for weather related emergencies like they do in the Midwest for tornados or just for vol. FD and noon calls and tests?