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Fire Station Sirens When and how are fire station sirens used?
Many CFA fire stations across the state still activate their siren when they respond to an incident, whether that be a house fire, car fire or grass fire or any other incident they respond to. Sirens were originally installed into fire stations as a way of alerting volunteers that there was an incident to respond to. They were never intended as an alert system for the community. CFA, uses a pager activation system to let volunteers know that they need to respond. Each fire station has a choice as to whether they use the siren as a redundancy system (in case the pager system fails) and if they use it what times of day to activate it. Some fire stations only activate the siren during the daytime, for example from 8am till 6pm. There are many reasons as to why some stations do not activate their sirens such as complaints by residents and concerns that the community does not know what the sounding of the siren means and what actions are required of them. The fire siren also has a number of limitations in relation to its sound penetration which can be affected by wind direction and speed, local topography such as hills and mountains, and proximity of other buildings to the fire station. The fire siren is also dependent on a reliable power supply, which may fail and prevent the siren on operating
Alerting Systems CFA recognises that some communities and some Brigades may use a siren (or another type of alerting system) as a way of alerting the community of a bushfire threat, however, the community needs to be aware of the limitations of this type of system. While an alerting system may alert people to an incident it does not provide the range of important information required by a community during a bushfire. An alerting system can only communicate a simple warning message that may or may not be interpreted by the community in a way that enhances their safety. CFA supports the Royal Commission in further investigating the types of alerting and warning systems that may be available for the community Given the level of technology available to the communications sector several options may be looked into for future community alerting systems including text messaging. CFA will support communities with the provision of information and access to a range of community development programs, to ensure that any community warning system is used as part of a comprehensive risk reduction strategy. Community warning systems should be used in conjunction with other communication tools such as ABC radio, the Victorian Bushfire Information Line and the CFA public website (www.cfa.vic.gov.au).
Bushfire Warnings What kind of warnings will I receive? (see also fire station sirens)
CFA cannot guarantee that you will receive an official warning about a major bushfire During significant incidents CFA activates an Information Unit both locally and at a state level and they will disseminate awareness, alert and threat messages for those communities at threat or in need of updated information. These messages are sent out to the community through ABC radio (the official emergency broadcaster for Victoria), through regional radio, CFA website and the Victorian Bushfire Information Line On a high risk day and during an incident the public can get updated information through: ABC state-wide and regional radio Victorian Bushfire Information Line The CFA public website (www.cfa.vic.gov.au) The DSE public website (www.dse.vic.gov.au) CFA recognises, and residents must appreciate that rapid onset fires may affect parts of the community before information can be effectively disseminated. |