Sacramento Cold War air raid siren brought back to life for final encore | Bartell's Backroads

A rare Sacramento Cold War air raid siren caught the interest of an Oklahoma teenager who asked locals on Reddit for a recording of the siren. Bartell's Backroads answered the call.
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[@kilo8881]

This siren should be preserved in a museum at least.

[@valrabellkeys9867]

I 100% agree, as I stated in this video, it is a one of a kind, a truly unique piece. Sadly, it will probably stay on top of the fruit building until it comes down some day in the far, far future. Sadly, the next owners of the building will likely forget about the siren, and even then, it would be very costly to remove it(either bringing it down in pieces, hopefully by someone who knows what they are doing, or with a crane) and find a museum for it.

[@oliversfirealarms8407]

Yes In a thunderbolt should be in there as well.

[@kilo8881]

@@urielbourque Wouldn't that be better then it sitting in a scrapyard rotting for years?

[@kilo8881]

@@urielbourque that's also a good idea.

[@oliversfirealarms8407]

Yeah

[@vulpine2592]

A "siren enthusiast" has to be the neighbors least favorite hobby, haha :D

[@sirensandstuff5780]

Surprisingly, many neighbors think it's cool. I mean you dont mess with them randomly as that can cause false panic, but when I'm messing around my neighbors think its interesting. Most do as it's something they've never heard of.

[@vulpine2592]

@@sirensandstuff5780 Glad to hear that, I guess it also kinda depends on what neighbours you have...

[@valrabellkeys9867]

(I'm the one in the video.) I haven't gotten any complaints yet.. then again it is VERY rare I have my siren equipment actually hooked to speaker drivers, and the one time I did sound it for ~30 seconds with speaker drivers, it was 2 drivers outside of their compression horn, making them somewhat loud but not too awful.. but in general, your comment probably isn't that inaccurate lol

[@sirensandstuff5780]

What he's saying in layman's terms is that he didn't completely blast his siren, but only a couple speakers.

[@quayl1337]

Subwoofer lover....i live in a apartment complex 😅

[@valrabellkeys9867]

Hey, that's me! Thanks for having me on!

[@johnbartellshhop]

Thanks for helping me! Sorry it took so long to get the story done.

[@valrabellkeys9867]

@@johnbartellshhop Don't be sorry! It was great.

[@christophercarey3232]

What type of siren did you say that was?

[@Kings.English1990]

I've got a ww1 carter air raid siren it sounds scary

[@valrabellkeys9867]

@@Kings.English1990 I don't believe they had those in WW1

[@xandercreates6766]

We need to keep these sirens in operation Not everyone has phones Some people who do. Have their phones off What I’m saying is, an Air Raid Siren is actually still more effective than a cell alert, and useful in Dead Zones(no service areas, or areas with horrible service), and when some people don’t have a phone plan, a phone with no battery power, or a phone at all

[@shattersucks6270]

Seriously My ex stepdad had friends who died in a tornado at a wedding and got NO cellphone alerts!

[@xandercreates6766]

Shatter Nat all the more reason to have these sirens around

[@Mustang6971]

@@shattersucks6270 Your tragic story just proved why old school sirens are essential in notifying the public of an emergency.

[@Awesomewolfpic]

my phone don't even send me amber alerts all the time and sometimes it does.

[@dnsbrules_01]

XanderCreates I have friends who don’t. I have mine on all the time unless it’s dead. I never get them so there’s 3 people who never get them.

[@DrpanProductions]

As another siren enthusiast thank you for shedding light on our community

[@johnbartellshhop]

SO GLAD I COULD DO THIS STORY!

[@billdewahl7007]

I was thinking to myself "siren enthusiast?!" I guess if it not for siren enthusiasts we'd be without sirens.

[@DJ-sl6de]

This can’t b real

[@saturn1907]

D J why wouldn’t it be?

[@sirensandrailroadsofoklaho9285]

D J it is, we are real, hi, I’m Jakob, a siren enthusiast

[@davidperry4013]

Sirens save lives. If there is a tornado warning and your phone is in the other room, a cellphone is barely loud enough for near field audio, a siren will remind you go to the most interior room, and duck and cover. Even a country as high tech as Japan uses sirens for monsoon warnings. As for earthquakes, an EAS siren tones through phones and chimes through the TVs and radios, and home alarms actually suffice because earthquakes rarely cause damage to buildings but, can occasionally cause vertical furniture to fall, loss of control in a motor vehicle, or standing people to fall headfirst, and often just be an uncomfortable jolt.

[@know1tv]

Sirens aren't meant to be heard in a building. Sirens are actually called Outdoor Warning Sirens. You need a weather radio in your house for warnings.

[@askedkedeldeif]

Plus some people just dont have phones or a tv and the outside alert could be their only warning.

[@cloudhhhh]

Yeah, sirens are VERY important. Wish we had them in Turkey since we do have a lot of earthquakes. You would probably think that we'd be prepared after all those earthquakes and floods, right? Well, wrong. No EAS, no sirens. Telephone service all around Turkey shut down due to overload around the whole country after a decent magnitude earthquake a few days ago since there were too many phone calling at a time. Imagine what would happen after an earthquake with decent property damage...

[@low-key5512]

@@cloudhhhh Earthquakes are actually incredibly hard to predict and warn against. Seismologists even now can only ever have a vague idea. Buuut there's hope :) They're working to find better methods and techniques. Hope Turkey get's those sirens as you said. Stay safe, friend!

[@cloudhhhh]

@@low-key5512 yeah I know that but some people don't notice the earthquake

[@frankyu553]

Of all the people I met, those with a hobby or passion for something are always the happiest and most satisfied with their lives. They are also usually the kindest. Hats off to Carson for having something he's passionate about. We should all be an enthusiast for something.

[@emrilbennett8704]

Agreed!

[@What-thaW]

Person with ww2 ptsd: (hears this) “Ah yes, just like the good old days.”

[@muddrudder2656]

Or they unite those around them to try and prepare for the worst

[@ioverdosedonspaghettipleas9284]

>cold war siren >ww2 ptsd Clap clap

[@Kingoftehill]

Might be the best account name I’ve heard yet.

[@bdoug5316]

Everyone has ptsd.

[@reddeimon475]

@@ioverdosedonspaghettipleas9284 2:15

[@MeganGaming101]

If it weren’t for the tornado sirens in my area. More people would’ve been killed by the Tornados which struck Dayton. We had 1 death, can’t imagine what the death and injury toll would be without those sirens. Phone alerts only do so much.

[@abysspegasusgaming]

As a fellow Ohioan and living within 50-75 miles of the tornado touchdown locations, it was unnerving to think if any more hit, and now with good old Richmond Indiana being hit by 3 in one day, this year has really been a crazy one for weather.

[@queencitysirens8755]

Same! As a Siren enthusiast from Mason. I am very glad to have a functional siren system to alert residents of incoming dangers.

[@THEtechknight]

Yep I grew up in Hamilton, and it was full of tbolts. Not sure the state of affairs now since I moved away, but I do know my mothers house still has one across the street where a school used to be.

[@queencitysirens8755]

@@THEtechknight Can't forget the Si-Rex!

[@THEtechknight]

I dont remember that one. I do remember the rather rare HOR or whichever one it was, that sat on top of one of the govt buildings.

[@victoriavilulf5058]

Good on Sacramento for turning on the siren for someone who wanted to check it out and learn about it. It always makes me happy to see people willing to help each other out.

[@sanchit2815]

Idk why but im really digging these air raid sirens Edit:- if this were reddit i would have had so much karma lol

[@mjyanimations1062]

a sad meme ikr

[@warlcheezer168]

I bet I won't see you at another siren vid

[@sanchit2815]

@@warlcheezer168 thankyou

[@kilo8881]

Welcome to the club my friend. Have a coffee.

[@UberLukario]

There are many people who actually own old sirens for preservation, simply because it is a hobby.

[@thatonelonelyeagle5398]

When cellphones blow we will regret taking down what worked more effectively with keeping us safe!

[@leDespicable]

Already happening here in Germany. A huge portion of our once siren system was dismantled in the 90s after the end of the cold war. Now we have to rely on a patched-up warning system consisting of mostly insufficiently-placed sirens, police and firefighters with their speakers, and two warning apps (NINA and Katwarn) that fail to work in serious situations. Cities are slowly starting to rebuild their siren systems...but it will take a long time until a system similar to the old one is in place again. Munich entirely relies on Katwarn (one of the apps) to warn its citizens and doesn't have sirens anymore. The problem is that the authorities don't even make an effort to promote these apps. They say that sirens are easily replaceable with phones but only a fraction of the German population actually knows that these apps exist. There are about 82m German citizens and only about 1m use NINA (the more popular warning app). Not even talking about Germany's ridiculously bad mobile coverage where phones are useless in many parts of the countryside anyway. So no warning for you when you live in a small village. Something like the EAS doesn't exist here either...

[@isaakwelch3451]

Where I live, it's very rural. Our community recently decomissioned our tsunami evacuation sirens because they think cell phones will adequately warn us. I think it's stupid.

[@GewelReal]

We have both in Poland (sirens and text-message warnings) and both work excellent

[@Unbekannt1918]

@@leDespicable Ich weiß nicht genau wie es in Deutschland aussieht, aber in Österreich haben wir eigentlich überall Sirenen, sie werden hauptsächlich am Land verwendet um die Freiwillige Feuerwehr zu alarmieren, sind aber alle dafür gedacht bei Naturkatastrophen oder militärischen Warnungen Alarm schlagen zu können ( 3 Minuten Dauerton = Warnung, 1 Minute auf-abschwellend = Notfall, 1 Minute Dauerton = Entwarnung, 3x 15 sek Dauerton mit 2x 7 sek runterschwellen = Feuerwehreinsatz )

[@leDespicable]

@@Unbekannt1918 darum beneide ich Österreich und die Schweiz. Wir hatten das alles, bis man nach dem kalten Krieg einen Großteil abgebaut hat. Von 80.000 Sirenen ist nicht mal mehr die Hälfte da.

[@chrisgriffith99]

As someone who was in paradise when it caught fire. These would have save so many lives.

[@EpicDrake]

Cellphones have dead spots. Siren's don't. *Siren lives matter.* Thanks 4 *206!* likes haven't gotten that much before.

[@user2C47]

Sirens _can_ have dead zones where they are barely audible. You are also unlikely to hear a siren in a rural area.

[@EpicDrake]

@@user2C47 Wrong there my friend, I lived out in the outskirts of a mini little town. Every 12'o there would be a siren that goes off.

[@DTXBrian]

@@EpicDrake Your anecdotal evidence isn't proof of anything. He's absolutely right, that there are places where sirens can't really be heard. Attenuation and geometric dispersion limit the range of sirens. If you're more than a couple of miles from all but the most powerful sirens ever built, you're not going to hear them over background noise. The most powerful sirens might get you about 5 miles of genuine coverage before dispersion makes them inaudible. That's all assuming there's no other dispersion due to weather conditions, trees, buildings, hills, etc...

[@EpicDrake]

I am sorry but I am splurging on my *147 likes* Anyway you guy's needs to get out in the country more often. There is more freedom out here in the outskirts of a city. 🤯✌ Also to note, if you go out into the outskirts of a city & in an actual middle of nowhere town. & when a siren goes off. You will either think there's a nuker war going down. Or you will hear the sound of *Siren Live's Do Matter* 😉

[@EpicDrake]

Gotta love city nerds 🤠

[@joeyfinafrock7692]

We still use a siren in our town the fire department runs it at 12pm for lunch and at 6pm for dinner to let the kids know what time it is but it is also used for fires and tornadoe warnings we just updated to a newer model similar to this one in the clip. I think they should still be used regardless I hope someone can get it so it stays around

[@zachg9065]

Growing up in the Midwest I quickly learned to appreciate the use of Sirens during a tornatic situation. They are very useful to people that are outside and may not paying attention to their phones or a TV/radio. Every first Wednesday of the month we test them and it is loud!

[@stevevernon1978]

In Indiana they are tested every Friday at 11am thru tornado season.

[@CommandoX798]

I thin alert sirens are still needed. Even with phones, we still need sirens.

[@BryanAnguiano]

"got replaced by our phones" You mean that thing most people ignore or turn off?

[@elliotsmith1670]

Sirens are still effective and should still be used as a redundant backup to mobile alerts. We had mult tornadoes in my area in 2011(SW Virginia/NE Tenn).... and used our old siren system, along with mobile and tv/radio warnings. That storm prompted the city to actually install two new ones to enhance their system. We haven't had any bad tornadic storms like that since then, but Im glad they kept and improved the system. A lot of people may not have their phones around, or are older and dont use them at all. It's worth the investment to keep. Some people nearby lost their lives that night bc they thought they were ok and heard no warnings in their town, and went on to bed. The tornado was a rain wrapped F3 that came through about midnight, and could not be seen through the dark, rainy storm clouds.

[@armron94]

I live in Michigan. We got forests beaches Some towns in Michigan Don't have cell service.

[@isaakwelch3451]

Exactly! And if i'm at home I don't keep my phone with me at all times. And if I'm asleep I set my phone to silent. For a lot of rural americans I expect this is the norm.

[@armron94]

@@isaakwelch3451 I'm a heavy sleeper. My phone don't wake me up if it goes off. I even have a weather radio. That wakes me up. Better than my alarm clock.

[@isaakwelch3451]

@@armron94 Exactly! These sirens are important

[@armron94]

@@isaakwelch3451 extremely important

[@R.M.MacFru]

Exactly! You head up in places like Leelanau or Au Gres and cell service is practically non-existent. And then there's the U.P. with the large national forests and high iron and copper content that makes cells pretty useless.

[@jessieg58]

Many of the tsunami sirens here on the west coast are leftover air raid sirens from WWII and the Cold War

[@authority3068]

Wow this kid is so right, all of these war relics like planes and tanks end up in museums but these sirens could have saved lives they really deserve the same recognition that other old war equipment gets. But instead they just sit abandoned on buildings or sadly scrapped.

[@valrabellkeys9867]

(I'm the one in the video) That is quite true. there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of inactive sirens around the USA, still on poles, buildings, or on the ground. While a lot of these sirens could have bad motors or other major issues, many of these sirens would still work fine given new siren controllers (and controllers from Federal Signal connected to the correct motor starters will work with just about anything). The problem is: cost. To remove an old siren, give it a new controller, and reinstall it would cost a lot of money, though many old controllers are also still usable. By a lot, I mean into the thousands. While it would be significantly cheaper by at least around 10k, it would still be a huge expense.

[@authority3068]

I get these sirens have issues and that’s fine because their old, but instead of abandoning them or scrapping them just put them in a museum.

[@sammil5891]

We should keep sirens. Cell alerts aren’t guaranteed due to spotty service.

[@firefalcon100]

a very good point. Also, how many of us hear the stupid thing buzz or ring and dont bother to look at it until later because we're busy with something? You hear a siren, you know something bad is going on and you take notice immediately!

[@vintagesimplexfirealarmsof6440]

or dead phones

[@JOELwindows7]

This is your daily dose of Recommendation Siren is relic that has to be preserved

[@jdshultis]

I live in the Midwest. In 2019 in our town of just under 30,000 people the sirens are activated Wednesday evenings at 6pm UNLESS there is the potential for a real emergency, in which case the test is cancelled and the sirens will only sound if a severe thunderstorm, tornado, etc. is threatening us. We had a guest teacher from Russia at the college back in 2002, and when she heard the sirens being tested for the first time she was surprised. She was even more surprised when I explained that they would have been used to warn us if the USSR sent nukes our way, and that they were still used for weather emergencies.

[@OhSoTrendyyy]

Understandable passion. Something about things that are extremely loud, and slightly terrifying, bring me joy

[@GreenKnight1982]

Thank you for putting an actual name to my hobby... I can't explain why but I love restoring and hearing old sirens

[@HyouMix]

SUCH A BEAUTY!

[@valrabellkeys9867]

It is, and a piece of history too!

[@lightpawshird]

They'll regret getting rid of it when the cell system fails and there is an emergency. Many lives will or could be lost.

[@SweetTooth_1995]

But what if that's the point...?

[@atomstarfireproductions8695]

Actually, cell phones can receive emergency alerts and call 911 by connecting to any cell tower the phone is compatible with At least this is FCC’s requirement in US

[@duck_rifle5879]

Thats part of the plan.

[@n0tlance314]

I wonder what all the ww2 vets or early cold war people hearing the alarm sound for the first time in a while we're thinking

[@Thai8521]

probably some teens messing about or a person really wanting to make sure the sirens still works so they can note the features and detail of it for (mabye) future development/destruction.

[@KryssLaBryn]

When I was a kid (pre-cell phone days), our local volunteer fire department used one of these to summon the volunteer firemen when they got a call. We were a few kilometres from the station, but we could still hear it clearly, even with the windows shut. My Dad, who's from Germany, was ten years old when the War broke out. He's lived through a lot of air raids, had to drop everything and bolt for the nearest shelter when the sirens went off; had to help clear bodies of neighbours from the rubble afterwards. He used to go quiet, and get a very faraway look in his eyes, the true thousand-yard stare. Pretty sure, looking back at it now, he must have had PTSD from the War and its aftermath (I mean, how could he have not?). Dunno if he still does; he seems to manage pretty well, and it stopped so obviously affecting him around the late Eighties. And of course, they haven't used it in decades. I always thought the sound was neat. But I also always remember Dad getting still and quiet each time, and his distant stare...

[@TheJoeSwanon]

I like how they’re standing right next to the siren without any hearing protection

[@airzorne]

I want to share my story with you all, since you're watching a video about this. I actually lived through a bombing by the US Air Force in 1999 of my hometown of Pancevo, a few miles from Belgrade, Serbia. I was 3 years old at the time and some of my first memories ever are of these sirens. I remember hearing them as a warning before US Aircraft approached my hometown, and then being taken by my parents from our apartment to a Fallout shelter with a bunch of other people. They used to regularly test those sirens in my hometown on a yearly basis for a few years after the NATO bombing, I think until 2005 or 2006 for maintenance purposes. When i heard them then, i of course knew there were no new bombings since my country was not at war, but still i got a chill every time i heard them. Anyways, you don't want to associate these sirens with anything and I'm glad you don't have to :)

[@valrabellkeys9867]

(I'm the one in the video) Dang.. sorry to hear you had to live through that as a child. Anyways, neat story though.

[@MABHollywood]

Best story on ABC 10 in years!

[@johnbartellshhop]

Check out some of my other stories! on.abc10.com/BartellsBackroads

[@mikehoncho658]

I hear this same siren every other day, it’s our volunteer fire dept siren, I guess I don’t really know how lucky we are to hear it

[@community1949]

Well we used to live very close to Naval Avionics and those sirens would sound every Friday at 11:00 am - I loved it when I was a child.

[@rebeccacaraska4112]

I grew up in Sacramento. Last Friday of every month. I still miss the sound.

[@steamfan7147]

We need the sirens to wake everyone up from their smart phone comas.

[@sirensofneohio3979]

That’s amazing! I’m a siren enthusiast as well. I wish we we got more recognition.

[@EASsirenVids01]

Sirens of NE Ohio yeah

[@emrilbennett8704]

I think it’s pretty cool.

[@rossjohnson1301]

My home town still uses these sirens every Tuesday and Thursday they test them all I always thought they were pretty neat

[@brianpatrickofficial]

I love how casual they make a “siren enthusiast” sound

[@Polarisld33]

I love that my town still has a tornado siren despite cell phone technology. They test it every month.

[@j22s]

Everybody gangsta until this kid moves next door

[@Daehawk]

Siren sounds are awesome. Old air raid and tornado sirens give me chills.

[@aubreyselfridge923]

In the October 2019 Kincade fire in Sonoma county Graton Fire Department sounded their air raid siren during the mandatory evacuation of the area it proved its point and still showed it was a necessity

[@briandavenport8971]

A siren enthusiast? Wow, they have hobbies for everything.

[@-amoureuse-9489]

There are Even elevator enthusiast

[@briandavenport8971]

@@-amoureuse-9489 I guess it's all fun and games until the fire department has to come open the elevator door.

[@Sensei-Gio]

Bring them back I love them use to drive in Kansas and hear the tornado warnings they’re a great back-up device!!!!

[@dougvandegrift8727]

This is Doug V. From Paradise, Calif. I was having breakfast at the cozy dinner in paradise that morning. This kid is correct. Our sirens were removed many years ago for the reasons he stated. There were no alerts, no reverse 911 or anything. They clam only 89 or so people died. We believe over 200 didn’t survive. I’m rebuilding a house in Magalia, Calif and I am going to install a siren. I lost everything and received nothing because I rented. Love your little video, keep it up. There needs to be a siren in every town. Thank you

[@user-kv7jj6gt4f]

Grew-up with these sirens in the 60's. Our old grade school had one in the corner of our play ground. ... And yes we were led into the school hallway, back to the wall our heads tucked between our knees and hands covered our head.

[@robbonowak]

I kinda hoped he would give the kid the siren

[@kingofsludge7262]

That’s one heck of an alarm clock

[@andrewchurch452]

King Of Sludge yeah air raid sirens can usually be heard 1-2 miles away. It’s a city wide alarm clock.

[@mylifeisJDM]

I love it. Thanks for the coverage

[@brandonburkest6229]

Sirens are awesome. I love them

[@sirensandrailroadsofoklaho9285]

I’m friends with Carson! Amazing report

[@johnbartellshhop]

Thanks for watching! I wish I could have gotten the story out earlier. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get them to turn on the siren.

[@nickelplatenerd6989]

That’s like me with trains. All my friends my age are like, “Wait, trains still exist?!”. I’m not kidding, and I’m almost 18.

[@muddyrebel2722]

Nickel Plate Nerd Trains are pretty dang cool 👊🏼 I’m 18 and a railroad enthusiast. Lived in Texas for my whole life and just moved to Alaska

[@nickelplatenerd6989]

Yeah I’ve seen the show Railroad Alaska and I’m glad that the people up there still rely on railroads for transportation. If the American government hadn’t of stepped in the railroads would have died. And I’m glad that steam locomotives are being restored. I live in Tennessee and I’ve got to see the 576 up close. I plan on volunteering when I turn 18.

[@muddyrebel2722]

Nickel Plate Nerd Alaska 557 is under current restoration and it’s looking really good. I’m hoping to see it run out on the main at some point

[@ericcriteser4001]

Actually, the government nearly killed the railroads. It was only after the government agreed to deregulate them in 1981 through the Stagger's Act were they were able to thrive. As far as Amtrak, if the government hadn't so heavily subsidized airports and highways, the passenger trains would still be privately run. Read your history. The government has never been a friend to the railroads.

[@Lungoose]

Just kill them then

[@josephhavens8431]

I live in NJ and are fire departments have them still in operation at some local volunteer stations. Don’t hear them as often like 10yrs ago but still cool to hear. They usually sound to alert for a problem in the area that the station resides.

[@gilbertjuarez7064]

After decades of sitting up there still stands strong and loud still moving with ease that thing needs to be at a museum or somewhere like that

[@SkyHighHusky]

Meanwhile in Chicago: Every 1st Tuesday of every month

[@adventuresofpyro9020]

Yup. Hello fellow Illinoisan!

[@keeshahdarkfurr8328]

The very creepy alternative wail! Space aliens are invading

[@R.M.MacFru]

And in Metro Detroit, it's at 1pm on the first Saturday each month.

[@TriegaDN]

Metro Detroit as well! I never pay attention to the schedule, I always notice them in the summer.

[@R.M.MacFru]

@@TriegaDN ... I live about 1/8 of a mile from one, so it's hard to miss. Unless we're having severe weather. Then it can't be heard at all. 😉

[@infinitecanadian]

Someone should GoFundMe this siren into a museum.

[@mrnorthwestohiodude7758]

@@urielbourque Its not used by the city anymore, its abandoned. Placing it in a museum where the weather doesnt deteriorate it anymore would be beneficial.

[@KanoaDeCastro]

I'm a Fire alarm enthusiast, and I am also happy that the Siren enthusiast community got some light.

[@eastcoastalerting]

Great catch!

[@kissmysoup]

I'm an ex-siren enthusiast when it came the ThunderBolt. Ahh the memories.

[@elizabethpaillaleo7935]

🍁

[@KagomeMorino]

That siren sounds exactly like the one my town has. It goes off at noon every day and is used as an emergency siren for tornadoes and such.

[@PalmPeakMarketing]

Same port ratio. There are many 12 port single tone sirens out there.

[@Creeperboy099]

I don’t know how much to appreciate this video

[@valrabellkeys9867]

(I'm the one in the video) Well... I tried my best to shed a good light on the community, and I think I did quite well!

[@fabianstern2315]

In Austria we have both the nation-wide siren warning system and cell broadcast (no data connection necessary). Every Saturday at 12pm, all sirens in the country go off simultaneously.

[@RenaissanceThinking]

The alert siren systems still work all across Texas. And thanks to how easily the cell network goes down during natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados, no one is talking about taking them off line anytime soon around here.

[@doofino]

We've still got one in our town that my fire hall uses

[@lucasmarasinghe9017]

I live in a town in sweden and here we have that air siren test every week

[@JLD1985]

These are still very much used in N. KY and Cincinnati, OH. Although most of the old "war" sirens have been replaced with new, modern sirens (but they sound the same). They are set off in the event of a tornado warning. Everyone knows to take cover when they hear them. They are also still tested monthly - in our county, at noon on the first Wed. of every month.

[@x6ftundx]

I think if they brought them all back and turned them on more people would be ready in case something real happened.

[@empress_irish]

x6ftundx right... like using for a statewide fire/earthquake drill. Some sort of conditional mindset training.

[@zakofrx]

Their would be protests to block them I would guess. University groups etc.. have banned clapping because they claim it causes triggering. They wave their fingers in the air instead. I doubt they would like a siren and they are the people who usually block streets etc... To protest things.

[@johnhadash2364]

Our siren sounds every day at noon that how I know it's lunch lol

[@tnitron9750]

Friday at 11 am severe weather siren test every friday in summertimes here. Not sure about winters. I dont think so

[@nz_planespotter4013]

In my country sirens are still used in almost every town but mainly used to alert local volunteer fire fighters who aren’t based at the station to get to the fire station.

[@VampFaye]

We have them tested every Saturday here. Old sirens are really cool!

[@marshallcarhart579]

I have an idea, let’s put air raid sirens INSIDE smart phones

[@mm-gl7sz]

You can! There's all sorts of sirens online they you can download to use as an alarm for an alert

[@Doodlebugthegoldenhamster]

*Certified bruh moment*

[@NotSoCrazyNinja]

I'm only aware of one working siren in my local area. The city fire department in the nearest city has a siren on top that goes off on every major fire call. Due to the proximity to housing, sometime in the future, I bet it will be removed due to "annoyance".

[@keonagirl435]

That sound is awesome!

[@heregoesmike]

The town of Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada uses an air raid siren placed atop the Volunteer Fire Deptartment for the purpose of alerting the Volunteers or Paramedics of an emergency in progress. Residents here were blessed by its sounding at 1900PT every night for the past two months as a salute to frontline workers. We are one of only a handful of towns on the west coast of Canada that has such sirens.

[@Stargazzer811]

Many small towns in the US still use these sirens to alert fire companies. My company typically hears our sirens in town go off when we have a car accident or structure fire, but we'll sometimes hear it for brush fires too. Ours are only used between 8 AM and 8 PM however to keep the public happy. We have pagers, radios and phones for the rest of the time.

[@nealtrenkamp7398]

That tornado siren belongs in a museum

[@bodes_26]

My veiw on the ordeal with replacing sirens with phones is like this. Large cities should be the only places that actualy do this, but sed large cities should keep their current siren system they had before making phone warnings the primary source of notification and maintain their sirens and keep them for redundancy. Since in a case of an emergency the more redundant the sources of mass notification redaliy available the better.

[@kyscott4561]

My county has one of the largest Army Munitions Depots in the country. Growing up I've been fortunate enough to hear alerts, tests and actual warnings from more than a dozen different models of sirens. The Army pays to have all county sirens replaced every few years. I currently have a Whelen modulator directly in front of my house and they are fixing to install a supplemental ASC-128. Yeah I'm a siren enthusiast also lol

[@CodyTatman]

This is a really good piece. Unexpected and informative. 👌

[@noisereduced8108]

Who else lives near Sacramento? Like at most an hour away?

[@Ultramegaton26]

Truffler Me!...JK Sacramento is 17 hours and 30 minutes from me.

[@Not_jonpac16]

I live like 30 miles away from Sacramento in a city called vacaville

[@oleksandrakotenko2768]

I'm writing this from 2022, from Ukraine. And we have air raid sirens going off several times a days. And I have to say, that even though we also get notifications to our cellphones, it's good to have sirens too. Because you don't always have your phone at hand, some people have cellphones that don't support those notifications, the cell services are not stable when something extraordinary is happening, and not everyone gets a chance to charge their phones to get the notifications in the end (no electricity, or people have spent too much time in the bomb shelter and the phone has gone dead). So it's definitely worth like having real sirens.

[@CarsAndSirensA]

amazing! this is my favorite siren.

[@mattjackson6612]

We use the same or very similar sirens for tornados. Tested every month and very much still used

[@kevinbutton4580]

Not everyone has a cell phone or has their cell phone on...

[@user-do5zk6jh1k]

Not everyone had a radio.

[@tadeo517]

@@user-do5zk6jh1k That's why there were sirens

[@user-do5zk6jh1k]

@@tadeo517 I know. My comment is a reply to Kevin's.

[@dnsbrules_01]

They should still use the sirens. I have my emergency alerts on but the government doesn’t care about me cause I never get them.

[@Kaipi1988]

They need to bring the sirens back. When my home town burned down less than 25% of the people ever got an alert which is why almost 100 people died. I'm from Paradise and I'm really glad they mentioned in this video that the siren would have made a difference.

[@gonzalezt503]

We need these now!

[@MrCJNice]

when everthing else fails, analog is still the best option...even as a back-up or last recourse. sirens if mobile phone fails. morse code if broadcast fails.

[@brandongaines1731]

Amateur Radio, you mean, I hope ... only a select few people in the country still know Morse Code :-)

[@MisterBrownJack]

There is still a reson for the sirens to still be on because what if your phone was on silent or when the battery is dead or you don't have a SIM card yet

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

Area with bad reception.

[@MisterBrownJack]

Yeah

[@doodskie999]

This is perfect for my alarm clock

[@jordy5514]

In the netherlands we still use the sirens, every first monday of the month its tested

[@kevindietick9915]

Imagine being his neighbor and always hearing sirens

[@KTHR56]

Oh yeah, they’re loud. House I grew up in is in Des Moines, Iowa. Severe weather USA. There are three of those sirens within a 2 mile radius.

[@TheRealArtimusKnight]

Amazing machines. A real piece of history

[@Ashes2Ashes_Blush2Blush]

Kudos to this guy! I also have an affinity towards sirens

[@valrabellkeys9867]

Thank you!

[@spinningjenny1629]

In my town, those sirens are activated every saturday at 12 o'clock. They act as a warning system if a nuclear reactor goes off, or if there would be actual war. They are very, i mean, very loud, but they do the trick

[@empirestaterailfan4960]

2:45 I see the Capitol Mall Drawbridge (The Yellow one)

[@FrenkMeesters]

In the Netherlands we still have those air raid sirens and they play every first Monday of a new month! At 12o clock

[@cameronr7223]

Same thing in missouri

[@Unb3arablePain]

I live in Dixie Alley (Basically Tornado Alley but for gulf states). I have been caught in 5 tornado warnings this past year. While my phone and weather radio gave me the quickest and initial alerts, they weren't always reliable. The weather radio only works at home, and the phone failed me once when I had it on "Do Not Disturb" like I usually do during work hours. However, the sirens around the town never failed to alert me. When I was taking shelter from a literal tornado making a beeline right for me, the phone didn't continue to alert me, and the TV signal was long lost, but the siren kept blaring to let me know to keep taking shelter. These are important technology worth saving.