Lahar siren upgrade may include chimes
TACOMA - Pierce County is moving to a new, centralized lahar warning system - one that could replace the jolting wail of sirens with a gentler sound of chiming bells during twice-yearly tests.
A satellite-based system for alerting Puyallup Valley residents of a catastrophic volcanic debris flow from Mount Rainier would cost up to $1 million to install and $600,000 a year to monitor, said Ken Parrish, operations manager for Pierce County’s Department of Emergency Management.
The county hopes to have the new system in place by the end of next year.
It would parallel the tsunami warning system along Washington’s coast, which uses doorbell chimes for live tests.
The new technology would allow silent in-house testing and periodic tests that the public could hear, with possible sound effects including Westminster bell chimes.
“We only want to do the wail in the real event,” Parrish told The News Tribune of Tacoma.
Merle Frank, who heads Puyallup’s Fire and Emergency Services, isn’t sure about eliminating the wail of test sirens.
Though sirens generate complaints, Frank said, “Chimes don’t mean anything. Put chimes out there, and people don’t associate it with the emergency. I’m not in favor of chimes.”
More than 60,000 people live on the Puyallup Valley floor, where 26 lahar warning sirens are scattered to alert the region if a fast-moving gush of volcanic debris flows from Rainier.
The county began testing the sirens five years ago, and a few typically stay silent each time. The five that failed to go off in early October - including two new ones - were the largest number to date.
Work has already begun on upgrading 14 new sirens that have satellite-monitoring capability. The county is about to begin analyzing all 26 lahar sirens, which cover the valley from Orting to Fife.
A decision on how the lahar warning sirens’ tests will be conducted won’t be made until the new system is in place.