Reporter Doing Story on AZ's Abandoned CD Sirens

[OnlineRecords0]

Scott,

Unfortunately I am not a regular member who contributes to this forum, but I am an Arizona native with an interest in these types of systems.

Arizona has an intriguing history with the old air raid siren system. If I recall (from discussions on this forum in my teenage years) the system was owned and operated by the county when Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs were close together. Once Phoenix metro hit its "hyper growth" stage and sprawled out the system became ineffective and the proper authorities invested in reverse 911.

To answer your question about these sirens, you can do a simple Google search and see a fair amount of threads from this board regarding Arizona. Most threads date back around 2007-2010. For the sirens themselves, some sirens were taken to a "grave yard" outside of Phoenix. Others were subsequently sold, and some, even placed in museums for a bit.

Arizona did have a very interesting mix of sirens, some rare in my novice opinion. Although I am limited on information (again, it is just an interest) I would be happy to speak with you privately and see if I can't enlighten you or point you in a direction. Thanks.

Sorry for going off topic again, but do you know where that grave yard is?

[azman798]

Scott,

Unfortunately I am not a regular member who contributes to this forum, but I am an Arizona native with an interest in these types of systems.

Arizona has an intriguing history with the old air raid siren system. If I recall (from discussions on this forum in my teenage years) the system was owned and operated by the county when Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs were close together. Once Phoenix metro hit its "hyper growth" stage and sprawled out the system became ineffective and the proper authorities invested in reverse 911.

To answer your question about these sirens, you can do a simple Google search and see a fair amount of threads from this board regarding Arizona. Most threads date back around 2007-2010. For the sirens themselves, some sirens were taken to a "grave yard" outside of Phoenix. Others were subsequently sold, and some, even placed in museums for a bit.

Arizona did have a very interesting mix of sirens, some rare in my novice opinion. Although I am limited on information (again, it is just an interest) I would be happy to speak with you privately and see if I can't enlighten you or point you in a direction. Thanks.

Sorry for going off topic again, but do you know where that grave yard is?

Sorry, I was misinformed. It appears it was the Tucson, Arizona graveyard. To respect the topic of the thread here is the link: https://www.airraidsirens.net/forums/vi ... hp?t=19679

[OnlineRecords0]

Scott,

Unfortunately I am not a regular member who contributes to this forum, but I am an Arizona native with an interest in these types of systems.

Arizona has an intriguing history with the old air raid siren system. If I recall (from discussions on this forum in my teenage years) the system was owned and operated by the county when Phoenix and the surrounding suburbs were close together. Once Phoenix metro hit its "hyper growth" stage and sprawled out the system became ineffective and the proper authorities invested in reverse 911.

To answer your question about these sirens, you can do a simple Google search and see a fair amount of threads from this board regarding Arizona. Most threads date back around 2007-2010. For the sirens themselves, some sirens were taken to a "grave yard" outside of Phoenix. Others were subsequently sold, and some, even placed in museums for a bit.

Arizona did have a very interesting mix of sirens, some rare in my novice opinion. Although I am limited on information (again, it is just an interest) I would be happy to speak with you privately and see if I can't enlighten you or point you in a direction. Thanks.

Sorry for going off topic again, but do you know where that grave yard is?

Sorry, I was misinformed. It appears it was the Tucson, Arizona graveyard. To respect the topic of the thread here is the link: https://www.airraidsirens.net/forums/vi ... hp?t=19679

Ok, thanks for the info.

[Tboltmaniac]

Hello!

My name is Scott Bourque, and I'm a reporter for KJZZ, the NPR affiliate in Phoenix, AZ. I grew up here and vividly remember the Saturday siren tests at noon.

First, some unfortunate news to report: the siren on the roof of the East Court Building in downtown Phoenix has been removed. That means Phoenix Fire Station 22 has the last known relic of the City/County's old CD siren network.

When I saw that the Courthouse siren was removed, I decided to start researching for a story on the region's abandoned air-raid siren system - almost a Cold War obituary, as the last relics of that era are disappearing without any fanfare. So far I've been able to compile a vast amount of information from government agencies and local historians, and I look forward to sharing that with you once the story goes live.

That said, I think the expertise this forum offers could help me tell the story better. So, if anybody has any suggestions, or if anybody is willing to speak with me about what they know, I'm all ears!

Thank you all. For the record, I reached out to a moderator and was given permission to post this.

Hi Scott! My name is Scott, as well. I am better known as Tboltmaniac. I have a youtube channel and you can check it out here www.youtube.com/user/Tboltmaniac I'm a resident of Mesa and I have one of the Thunderbolt sirens that was used in the Phoenix Metro air raid siren system. I talked to the EMA for years and they said they would sell them at a public offering. So in December of 2013 they went to auction. I was fortunate enough to obtain a full unit. I am interested in helping you build your story! How may I get in contact with you? I have a good amount of information on this topic. Thanks Scott!

[sdbourqu]

Hello all!

Thank you for your responses! Tboltmaniac called my boss today, and we set up a time to meet. Finding someone who had one of the original parts of the system was the last piece of my story. Once it's published I'll be sure to share it with you all here!