City to Test Sirens Thursday

IRONWOOD, MI - Tuesday, June 02, 2009 - According to IPSD Director Bob Erspamer, the City of Ironwood will be conducting an outdoor warning siren test on Thursday, June 4, beginning at 12:00 noon. Testing will be performed throughout the City of Ironwood.

Back in October of 2006, Mayor Bruce Noren requested that the City apply for grants to purchase outdoor warning sirens. In November of 2007, it was announced that the City was grant eligible for the purchase of a new police patrol car and two warning sirens. The grant was for $24,000 which was 40% of the total cost for the patrol car and the sirens. This means the City had to pay the remaining 60%, or $48,000, for the patrol car and the sirens.

Only one citizen has ever even mentioned the sirens in the past two years at City meetings. Audible open air, civil defense era sirens have been phased out since the end of the Cold War. They are antiquated technology. They are very expensive, and they don't properly alert the public in case of an emergency. Most cities use their sirens as noon whistles or as curfew warning signals. As they wear out, they are quickly abandoned. In Ironwood, however, what is old is new again.

Last August a vendor attempted a testing of their sirens to show the City how effective they are. The test was immediately halted, however, because they didn't work.

Many cities have opted to initiate Reverse 911 systems for emergencies. Reverse 911 is a communication system that allows emergency services to quickly contact members of a community with information. It is so named, because 911 is the telephone number used for members of the community to communicate with emergency services (police, fire, EMS) in the USA. This system allows emergency services to do the "reverse", usually to inform the public of a known hazard. Reverse 911 is designed to provide map– or list-based communications with key audiences. Geographic calling zones are created based on immediate circumstances (e.g. Amber Alerts) or ahead of time based on anticipated needs (e.g. flood plains). Reverse 911 may also target specific lists of people (e.g., first responders, Neighborhood Watch, etc.) Reverse 911 Cell Phone services send emergency messages via text to cell phone users. A similar service is available for land line phones and via the Internet.

Reverse 911 is used in hundreds of communities, counties, commercial businesses, schools and non-profit organizations. The system has been used to solve and prevent crimes. It is state-of-the-art, and the start-up costs are comparable to what the City of Ironwood is spending on air raid sirens.