PARADISE, Calif. — California residents driven from their homes by one of the deadliest wildfires in recent history had one request before they would rebuild in the small mountain town of Paradise: warning sirens to bolster town emergency systems that failed some people before the fast-moving inferno that killed 85.
Town officials started testing the new sirens this summer after installation began in spring and as the five-year anniversary of the wildfire that wiped out much of the community approaches this November. There will eventually be 21 sirens erected throughout town that will emit one minute of loud, Hi-Lo warning sounds followed by evacuation instructions.
“If you’re going to come back to town, if you’re going to be part of Paradise again, what would make you feel secure and happy and wanting to come back? What do you need?” Paradise Mayor Greg Bolin recalled asking residents after the fire. “Number one on that list was a warning system.”
Tests of the sirens began in July and are run on the first Saturday of every month. Twelve sirens were ready for testing in early August, at locations ranging from Town Hall to police headquarters to remote intersections. The town’s protocol says the sirens and messaging will sound for 10 minutes, followed by intervals of five minutes of silence and five minutes of warnings “until the emergency has subsided.”
Reliable, audible warning systems are becoming more critical during wildfires of increasing speed and ferocity, especially as power lines and cell towers fail, knocking out communications critical to keeping people informed. After 2017 fires that ripped through California’s wine country, killing dozens, residents complained they got little to no warning from officials, who used phone calls and other alert systems but did not deploy a widespread cellphone alert. Many residents of Paradise had the same complaint.
Even when siren systems are in place, officials must make the choice to activate them.
Officials in Hawaii failed to activate sirens last week, raising questions about whether everything was done to alert the public in a state that devised an elaborate emergency warning system for potential dangers that include war, volcanoes, hurricanes and wildfires. On Maui, a fast-moving wildfire has killed more than 100.