JS11581
Member
What I'm wondering is why the fire whistle still goes off at the fire house if members of the fire house have radios, pagers and scanners. I've searched the internet with no straight answer. Am I missing something?
What I'm wondering is why the fire whistle still goes off at the fire house if members of the fire house have radios, pagers and scanners. I've searched the internet with no straight answer. Am I missing something?
Although if im driving past a department and they go off, ill normally drive a little slower and look around for members responding so i can get out of their way as we are a stupid courtesy light state.
This has nothing to do with why they use it, but on the same subject, one thing i have heard from people (non members of the department) is when the siren goes off, then its time to turn on the scanner and see whats going on.
Most times in the Hudson Valley area the dispatch info has already been sent.
Sounds kind of elitist, but hey, if you can afford to be that way. Not all departments can even afford to keep hoses and other equipment up to date, let alone hand out radios and pagers to everybody. Paid stand-by? HA! Most of our departments don't pay for on-scene time.Now it is no siren after 8PM or before 8AM. We pay people to be on call at night.
To me - it serves no useful purpose, but for the older guys - I guess it still means something.
There's that too. Audible sirens can reach areas radio signals don't. Some of our sirens can be heard 5 or 10 miles away if you're outside, maybe in a low area or on the backside of a hill that blocks radio.OP : in your particular area the radios don't always work due to various conditions such as but not limited to terrain. While tradition may be the "thing" in some other areas the Harlem Valley has issues with radio reception to this day. There are other reasons but I'll leave it there.
]Go to " The Gamewell Diaphone Site - Warning With Distinction.
Many departments Upstate still use them. When I say Upstate I mean North of the Mohawk River/Erie Canal.
There are a few departments that still believe very heavily in the use of their siren, in their words "to let the public know that there is an alarm and pay attention."
I will say that I am nostalgic and I do like the sound of a good fire siren. Back in the day it was "blow until they go!"