“We traditionally had the siren go off at 6 p.m. daily until it started to stick and malfunction,” Vernon Central Hose Co. Vice President John Fuller said. “When the siren started to stick someone would have to drive to the station and shut it off. Neighbors were not happy.”
The fire department had Motorola Co., manufacturer of the equipment, come to the station to check out the siren.
“They determined that the electronics were malfunctioning and disassembled the timing mechanism,” Fuller said. “Parts were sent out.”
Two weeks later the parts came back and the siren still didn’t work, according to Fuller.
Fuller could not predict when the siren will be fixed but he and other firefighters hope that it will be soon.
“We are carrying equipment with us to stay informed of emergencies until it is fixed, so we look forward to having the siren fixed,” Fuller said.
The tornado siren is not affected by the malfunctioning alarm siren, Fuller said.
“Our tornado siren is working and will alert residents to a weather emergency,” he said.
Once the malfunctioning siren is back up and running, the department does not intend to reinstate the daily 6 p.m. alert.
“We don’t see a need to sound the alarm daily,” Fuller said. “Most neighbors of the department don’t want to hear the siren when it’s not signaling an alarm, so we intend to only use it in case of an emergency.”
Lorri Drumm can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at [email protected].
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