Casper Star-Tribune Online

Advanced Search

County prepares new warning sirens

Craig Post, service manager for Communication Technologies, left, uses a box installed inside a Natrona County Sheriff's Department vehicle to test an outdoor warning siren near the Mills Water Treatment Facility on Thursday afternoon, while Natrona County Emergency Management Coordinator Lt. Stewart Anderson looks on. The warning siren sits on top of the pole reflected in the lower left corner of the windshield. Photo by Kerry Huller, Star-Tribune.

Story Tools

Print this story

E-mail this story

Rate this story

Text Size

Share This Story:

trib.popular

By CHRISTINE ROBINSON
Star-Tribune staff writer

Saturday, November 15, 2008 2:05 AM MST

The next time a tornado, flood or fire threatens Natrona County, you'll probably hear about it everywhere.

Literally, everywhere.

The Natrona County Emergency Management office hopes to install 36 outdoor warning sirens by spring to cover every residential portion of Natrona County.

Solar operated, the towers look like telephone poles with large, cylindrical heads. They function without moving parts, which Theresa Simpson, the Emergency Management deputy coordinator, said means they should survive harsh weather or circumstance.

By the end of the week, the county had 15 operational sirens capable of warning those within earshot.

Officials test each siren after installation and again once a month, checking to make absolutely sure each will work if and when an emergency strikes.

The towers can be operated by workers in the county dispatch office as well as those with the control boxes in their cars.

Officers can control the towers individually for a localized emergency such as a hazardous waste spill or a small fire. The sirens can also function as a group if there's an emergency threatening the entire county such as a severe storm.

Natrona County Emergency Management Coordinator Stewart Anderson said his office has been trying to bring the sirens into the county for more than 20 years. Each attempt failed because of lack of funding.

The final total was roughly $500,000 and funded by county optional one-percent sales tax revenue as well as general optional one-percent sales tax funds.

Each siren can announce prerecorded voices that will warn of possible disasters, such as tornados. The sirens can also broadcast live.

Simpson said this would have been useful for the Jackson Canyon Fire when it took emergency officials about 1.5 days to evacuate more than 1,200 addresses.

The Casper City Council will vote to allow five of the sirens on city-owned land in an upcoming meeting.

In the mean time, if you hear the siren, make sure you listen to know if it's only a test.

During the one of the recent test runs in Mills the siren announced a tornado warning. Simpson said dispatch workers fielded several calls from residents wondering where they needed to seek shelter.

Contact city reporter Christine Robinson at (307) 266-0639 or christine.robinson@trib.com


Students learn to live healthy at rec center		Casper watches Supreme Court hearing

Article Rating

Reader Comments

There are 5 comment(s)

Comments to this story.

Range wrote on Nov 15, 2008 3:24 PM:

" What is the range of the new warning sirens? Do the siren's footprints overlap? How do they perform in the wind? Is the sound omni directional even with a wind? How much wind does it take to invalidate the transmission range of the systems? Ad nausaium. Is $500,000 the cost for 15 or 36 towers? What is the maintenance cost per year. How long does it take the batteries, there are bateries right? "

Mass Notify wrote on Nov 15, 2008 4:07 PM:

" The range is one mile from the siren pole to 70 dBC. Wind will affect voice but not much the tone because there is overlap. This is a great designed system and the 30+ sirens are the best available in the world. Natrona County can be proud of this system and you will be impressed when it's fully installed!!
The system has batteries which can be without power for up to 28 days and still work. When the whole system is activated together there won't be any doubt what is going on in the County. Maintance will be minimal and the warranty is for 2 years plus a minimal charge for the next three years on parts making it nearly a 5 year warranty. Communications Technologies is a great dealer with lots of experience. Good luck and stay safe. "

Good job EMA wrote on Nov 17, 2008 1:23 PM:

" It's really great to see money being spent on a device that can save lives.. It's sad it so long to have them in put in place.. But budgets always cut projects that are for the life safety of the residents of Natron County.. Thats just how are politics work.. Great job guys and keep up the great work..... "

Range wrote on Nov 17, 2008 2:37 PM:

" Thank you for the info. Is this info out of the sales material or are they real? What is the overall footprint covered going to be when they are all installed? If it is 70 dbC at one mile away what is it near the pole? It would seem there may be some hearing damage possible nearby. Is there going to be diffenent sounds for different situations and how are they going to be maintained. What is minimal? "

EMA wrote on Nov 17, 2008 2:40 PM:

" How many times do you believe the system would have been activated in the last five years and for what? "

Submit a Comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.

Please note: We provide our story commenting feature in order to solicit feedback, debate and discussion on topics of local interest. Please keep in mind that civility is a necessary component of productive conversation. All blatantly inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate comments (i.e. vulgarity, marketing, etc.) are subject to rejection and/or removal. Comments will appear if and when they are approved. Thanks for reading, and thanks for participating.