Based on a reader question about the fire siren in Center Moriches, we asked whether you think firehouse sirens are still needed in the digital age.
There are no winning or losing answers, but from the close to 200 responses, there obviously are strong feelings on both sides of the issue.
This wasn’t supposed to be a debate about whether a paid system should replace volunteers, but that’s where some readers took the discussion. You can read all the comments on two Newsday.com Web pages: here on this blog, and here, where the story was posted after it ran in the Jan. 20 issue of Newsday..
Also, here are more unedited comments, sent to watchdog@newsday.com. Some writers chose to post anonymously.
With regard to the question posed in Newsday's January 20, 2008, Community Watchdog column I submit that the intensity of the alarm is a danger to anyone outdoors within several hundred feet of the siren. If the chairman, John Zlatniski, has been able to modify the times of operation of the sirens and limit them to fires only at night and has been able to function safely for the past four years then it seems the siren is an outmoded means of alerting responders.
--Frank Cibelli, Amityville, NY
I can’t speak for the rest of Long Island, but when I inquired of our local fire company, I was told sirens are “required by the insurance rating board”. When I asked to see proof of this requirement, I was told they would “get back to me”. That was almost 2 years ago, so I’m beginning to doubt the truth behind that particular answer.
This is the same fire company who, after they erected a 48’ tall auxiliary house in a residential, claimed:
1. They sent notification letters all of the 40 some odd homes directly affected, but they all seemed to have been lost in the certified mail.
2. They purposely withheld information about their plans, so as not to cause resistance.
They have just installed a new siren, higher on the house by some 8 – 10 feet, (total height now over 50 in a residentially zoned neighborhood).
Maybe they are trying to compensate?
--UNSIGNED
YES, alarms ARE still necessary.
How many times can volunteers be sitting around awaiting an alarm- they have personal lives- they may be in a location not to hear- etc. Many things can happen, and in the meantime, if this alarm were not to ring- YOU can be in needy person--
I get so disgusted when people complain - my son was -till he moved out of Nassau- volunteer fireman and EMT. How many times did that alarm go off in his room- and the whole house was awakened, but we knew it was a neighbor,friend,etc in need of help-
Rather than complain- why not get out and help
Do you have any idea what it would cost you in taxes if a PAID fire dept were to be - this will happen, as not enough willing hands—
--UNSIGNED
sidewalks popping up sirens at night gee to bad i have lived out in suffolk county since 1939. all the new comers want is a fantasy land. Sidewalks years ago always popped up because of the trees that lined them.So lets see cut down all the trees rip up the sidewalks and we will all be better off. Sirens at night ???
Same thing . lived with that -raised kids-am a volly. Raised my kids not coddled them. They could sleep in a
noisy enviroment and my grandchildren are doing fine also. Get with it and love the country you live in. Too
noisy move to Greenland
-- UNSIGNED
Comments (5)
Most of the volunteer fire departments in the country do not have sirens. They have nothing to do with the safety or response speed. The only reason we have them is resistance from the fire departments to change. The sirens can be easily activated only during the most serious structural fires, and only during the day time.
I don't live far from my town's fire house and the siren never bothers me. When the siren goes off, I consider it a gentle reminder that there are men and women out there who have my back if needed. I don't care if the alarm goes off at night...it helps me sleep more soundly knowing that I can rest comfortably and with peace of mind that there are amazing people working hard to protect us all.
If people don't like the sirens going off, they shouldn't have moved so close to a fire department.
doesnt newsday know thw answer to this? they have all the facts about fire districts spending. And is this taxpayer a citizen? doesnt the community watch dogg Know that a majority voted a long time ago for this,and its part of a system of redundensey to alert the VOLENTEERS that a neighbor is in need and that the VOLENTEERS do not always have their taxpayer supplied notifacatin device ontheir person, and just because they are VOLENTEERS that they dont have to have on their person 24/7
At night, with the windows closed(for heat, or a/c). who can hear the sirens. unless you live right next door, NO ONE can. The sirens are passe.
They are most certainly NOT needed!
It's 2008 - EVERYONE has cell phones and pagers.
The only idiots who are saying they are needed are these 'fire fighters.'
Growing up with parents in law enforcement and fire safety, I know that they are not needed.
If you say, well gee... they alert the good citizens of the community who volunteer...BULL... there is a VERY SMALL chance a fire volunteer lives within ear shot of the community paid for dump that blasts that siren.
Everyone has their lives, the unfortunate people are those that live by these pigs that find it traditional and exciting to ring the alarm.
WAKE UP PEOPLE... and NOT from these freakin' alarms.
Cell phones don't work everywhere, but neither does the alarm - it only reaches a small distance around the fire station. Though, that small distance is FILLED with tax paying people that would probably ALL want it shut off... FOR GOOD.