Oakmont chief, officials fire back at social media complaints about emergency sirens
Complaints on social media about emergency sirens in Oakmont aren't going to make them go away any time soon.
The topic recently received lively discussion on the private community message board Nextdoor. Complaints generally were along the lines of these posts on the site:
“This is 1910's technology,” “They really need to get with the times,” and “Nothing productive to add, but I hate that siren.”
Three sirens — at the fire station along Virginia Avenue, at Tenth Street Elementary and on Ann Street — go off simultaneously for an emergency and are tested every Saturday at noon.
Assistant fire Chief Joe Flanick at a recent Oakmont Council meeting said sirens are an important complement to cellphones and pagers, which may not be heard or functioning at any given time when the department's 18 firefighters need to be notified of an emergency.
“I've heard, ‘It's an old tradition and you really don't need a fire siren.' Well we do,” he said. “This isn't just something the fire department wants as a tradition. It's something that the community really needs to have and not let go away.”
Flanick said the fire station siren purchased last year is about 10 decibels quieter than the other two, which are 60 years old and cannot be adjusted.
“Unless you've worked in public safety, you don't understand how valuable every single second is when it comes to helping save someone's life,” Mayor Christopher Whaley said. “Keep that in mind before ... speaking negatively about a tool that helps our fire department better serve our community.”
Council members said they would be willing to hear a discussion about the sirens, but did not mention anything about taking them down.
“They serve a function, to make the community aware that there's a fire in the neighborhood,” council President William Benusa said.
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MikeJdiVittorio.
