We asked for comments on this blog and in the newspaper's Sunday column whether readers thought firehouse sirens are still necessary in the digital age. Below are responses sent to watchdog@newsday.com. Nameless comments were sent that way. More than 150 additional comments were submitted after it was posted on newsday.com. Click here to see them. Also, more readers wrote opinions in the "Comments" link at the end of the story on the Community Watchdog blog below.
There are strong arguments on both sides. Feel free to add to the discussion. Thanks to all who took the time to send some thoughtful views and opinions.
People must remeber that we on Long Island are served by a VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT. NO ONE is sitting up at the fire house all the time waiting for your house to go on fire. Pagers and Cells don't always work as most of us already know. Most Fire Departments do not use them at night unless it's a big fire or they need more personnel to respond. So people who complaint about an occassional fire siren going off at night should say a pray and thank the good lord they weren't sounded for them or their loved ones. -- Bill Torio
I read with great interest your column on the need for fire sirens in todays modern age. I am a member of my district's Board of Fire Commissioners and believe that the sirens and/or horns still play an important role in alerting the firefighters and community of an emergency. Over the years we too have made compromises as to the time and length of the activations. From 6AM to 6PM we sound the siren for all alarms, from 6PM to 6AM we sound the siren only for structure fires, mutual aid calls, "unknown type" of fire calls, and for second alarms.(more help needed from our own department) The siren sounds daily at noon, which I have found that the community relies on the "noon whistle". As I mentioned before, the siren warns the community that an emergency is in progress and to watch out for volunteers responding to the firehouse and firetrucks that will be responding shortly thereafter. Another point to bring out is the fact if you happen to be the one calling in an emergency, it is very reassuring to hear the siren sound and know that your call for help is being answered by volunteers in your community and they will be on their way to help you. We also have pagers and text messaging to our members that have cell phones and wanted to partricipate. Both systems are not 100% reliable. Using all three methods gives us assurance that a response will be forthcoming. Also we have a backup generator at the firehouse that automatically operates in the event of a power outage and has full capability to power the firehouse and the siren. There could be times that it may be our only way to notfy our members. In this day and time it may be necessary to use the siren to notify the public of other emergencies. This would be similar to the Civil Defense system that was in place during the "cold war" years in the 50's & 60's. People need to know that when they move next to or close by a fire station or satellite siren that there are going to be times of activity when the sirens are going to sound or you are going to hear emergency vehicles leave the station. Hopefully those folks will get used to it and understand. Rich T. Bellport, NY
I suppose the person who lives next to the Fire House, hasn't lived there their whole life. I bet it's the whole " I just moved here and now I want to change everything " policy adopted by ignorant fools. First they will get rid of the fire whistle then next will be the sirens on the fire trucks, then it will be the pagers (that get us to the fire house and to the scene) that make that awfully loud noise. This must be the same type of person who complains that the Fire Department does not respond quick enough to their emergency.
Gee,, if I only had a fire whistle or better technolgy to alert me of a rescue maybe I could have responded to the Fire House, so the Ambulance could have made it to you quicker sir.
The worst part of all of this is that these ignorant people are trying to abolish the traditions and usefull tools that help the Fire Personnel; help these ignorant people.
-- Jeff
On an island of all volunteer fire departments, sirens serve to notify emergency responders that they are needed and notify the general public that emergency responders may be passing by and caution and right of way should be afforded these valiant servants of the community.
Joseph Cicio
(formerly of North Lindenhurst)
GIVE US VOLUNTEERS A BREAK.
IF YOU NEEDED EMERGENCY HELP AND AN EMT DIDNT HEAR HIS PAGER BUT DID HEAR THE SIREN YOU WOULD BE GLAD TO SEE HIM.
YOU WOULDNT WANT TO PAY US VOLUNTEERS FOR WHAT WE FO ON OUR TIME FOR YOU THE GENERAL PUBLIC. (UNSIGNED)
Comments (7)
I find the sound of the sirens comforting. I know that there is someone out there who will respond to an emergency.
It is truly sad to see and hear how so many people are ignorant and ill informed about the world around them. Newsday has repeatedly looked for ways to inflame (no pun intended) the Long Island community against the good men and women who serve them everyday without pay. While it is quite obvious that they are being encouraged by the UFA and the IAFF to try to weaken the able and effective volunteer system we have in place on Long Island it is at the expense of those in the community who believe their lies and deceit.
In so far as the siren issue is concerned, one of the best reasons to keep sirens active at ALL firehouses is a simple financial one. While it is true that there are multiple redundant methods of notification in place for the alerting of responders - these sirens do so much more. The sirens also alert other local areas that their neighbors are working an alarm. This at times allows for quicker response to a request for mutual assistance from these other departments. Sirens or other audible alerts also indicate to the public at large that an emergency of some sort occurring. This audible signal should act as a warning for motorists, pedestrians and others to be aware and watch for emergency vehicles and responders, allowing them passage in as quick a fashion as possible.
And for all of those selfish homeowners who are only concerned about the affect of that rare sound on their own lives, lets look at a benefit for them. This simple sound device accounts for an ACTUAL homeowner saving in insurance rates. The insurance industry creates rates based on risk and homeowners insurance is affected directly by the ranking of the local fire department (ISO-FSRS). Certain individual items, SUCH AS THOSE LOUD SIRENS, increase that ranking thus lower the risk to the community and the overall rates paid by the homeowners in the area. This also holds true for all of those expensive fire trucks which NEWSAY so brazenly says are a waste. The age, type capability and condition of a departments apparatus, the distance between the fire house and all areas of the protected community and the complement of tools and equipment are all things which are taken into consideration when rating a fire departments ranking. The better the ranking, the lower rates EACH homeowner enjoys.
It is truly an amazing this to see how so many people complain about the fire service on Long Island (a fire fueled by the opinionated reporting of Newsday). However, speak to someone who's life has been effected by a fire, accident of other emergency. You will see how few of those people will loudly stand bash the services they received. Thankfully, due in part to the financial stature of the overall population of Long Island, we see few devastating fires. But perhaps it is more because of the brave men and women of the fire and emergency services that keep small fires from becoming catastrophic.
Thank a firefighter and PLEASE STOP COMPLAINING! If you want to make a change, stand up and volunteer.
For more FACTUAL information regarding the fire service and insurance, please see the following website: http://www.iso.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=699&Itemid=527
Regarding high taxes in Suffolk County. Why not vote for people who will lower your taxes or vote NO on budgets that are too high.
Suffolk County is truley an exception to the rule. With a population about 1,470,000 and it tremendous assesed evaluation. It is truely unrealistic that it does not have a paid ff/emt system. It has paid police, fire marshals, sheriffs, park police, correction officers, teachers, code enforcement, building inspectors, electrical inspectors, highway depts, librarians, librarian assistants,garbage colllectors, custodians and even people to pick up trash on the side of roads. AND we can not find money for a paid ff/emt system!
We also could demand from our elected officials that they no longer award lucrative contracts to thier employees.
If you are having a medical emergency do you want to wait for a volunteer emt to be alerted then get into their car then drive to the ambulance then drive it to your house. Or wait even longer because not enough people turned out to staff the ambulance and they had to mutual aide it
If your house is on fire especially in the day time when man powere is low do you also want to wait for those volunteers to do the same thing.
With a paid system they are in house and respond immediately.
A good ISO-FSRS rating will save you on fire insurance premiums but could very well be wiped out by the tax rate increase to buy the additional apparatus. Only a few miles away there is another fire dept. also getting the same rating and buying the same apparatus. Now it is true they each have good rating but the duplication of apparatus drives up the over all cost. This is repeated over and over. The fire depts number 110 in suffolk County all duplicating apparatus.
Bottom line.
Volunteer Fire dept. 3 miles away.
Paid Fire Dept. 3 miles away
Your house is on fire which one will get to your hose first
You have got to me kidding me. Now people are complaining about the sirens that go off to let the firefighters know they need to report to hq. Then the people complain that it takes too long for them to get to their emergency. It doesn't make sense to me.
Back in the day, residents relied on the volunteer system. Its time to stop the waste and move into the 21st century and set up a paid system. As another poster pointed out, there is so much waste with all the duplicate equiptment, and all the luxuries the volunteer firefighters enjoy. Just look at the equiptment they have...the manufacters will tell you that Long Island fire departments buy the most expensive equiptment available with all the bells and wistles. It just plain overkill. In paid system, firefighters wouldn't need these things to keep them in the firehouse. Take a look at a fire house in the city...no frills, gets the job done.
I'm not trying to knock all of the men and women who volunteer their time, but a paid system, in my opinion would be more efficient and save money and response time.
As far as the sirens are concerned, there is NO NEED to wake up the whole town when a fire is reported. Pagers, cell phones and telephones work just fine. As one poster pointed out that sirens save us money on our insurance, how much does it save?a couple of dollars? Thats a lame excuse, because basically what you are saying is the sirens are in place to save us money. And as far as alerting other fire departments of a fire.....come on now.....they have no phones or other monitering devices?
Its time to put in place a paid system, with paid professionals.
How do other fire departments all over the country manage, I wonder? Very few still have a fire siren. If volunteer firefighters complain about getting up or not having enough people, perhaps it is time to look into the alternatives? And why other people should suffer, they did not volunteer for the job? Disclosure of fire sirens is not required by law, so plenty of people purchased their houses without realizing how close they are to the fire sirens. This question has nothing to do with safety, it is about a big ego, the political clout, and the inability to change of the LI firefighting community.