Wednesday evening, an overwhelming number of Wildland Fires started with the passing of a dry thunderstorm through the area. The Dawes County Telecommunications Center set off the City of Chadron’s fire sirens as all fire personnel were needed to help with response to these fires. What was heard was a tone exclusively meant to summon fire personnel to the station.
After setting off the siren system, the Telecommunications Center received numerous inquiring phone calls and what the sirens meant. As a result, the Chadron Police Department wants to put out some information to assist everyone with identifying certain tones and their meanings:
- Fire tones will have a continuous, rolling, or high-low wailing sound lasting approximately 30 seconds.
- Rescue sirens will feature a Hi-Lo tone, lasting approximately 30 seconds. This is for ambulance calls for critical medical calls.
- Tornado and severe weather sirens emit a steady, continuous whistle lasting 3 minutes or longer. Seek shelter and turn to local radio 610 AM.
- For Civil Defense or Attack, a fast, wailing tone will sound for three minutes. Tune into AM 610 in that event.
- And a daily noon test will give a Westminster Chime sound effect. The daily noon sirens will begin as soon as all 4 new city sirens have been installed.
In a news release, Chadron PD recommends all residents sign up for Panhandle Alert (Code Red) for instant and local notifications via phone. You can also stay tuned to AM 610 KCSR Radio and keep tabs on fires through the non-profit app Watch Duty.
