Pierce County, Washington Warning Sirens Thread

[Metro Siren Synths]

I have probably posted about Lahar Sirens several times, but I'm finally going to get it out of my system.

Pierce County uses a System of 19 strategically-placed Warning Sirens. There are 5 Inactive Sirens. Lahar Sirens in Washington warn for an Imminent Eruption of Mount Rainier, the largest and most dangerous Volcano in the Cascade Mountain Range! Mount Rainier is favorable for depositing massive Lahars into the Green River, White River, and Puyallup River Valleys. Therefore the Cities of:

1. Industrial Tacoma
2. Fife
3. Riverside
4. Puyallup
5. Sumner
6. Alderton
7. McMillan
8. Orating
9. Enumclaw

are in the path of such a Massive Beauty!

The System currently Contains (Active):

1. 12 - Modulator 6024
2. 1 - Modulator 5020
3. 1 - Modulator 4016
4. 2 - Modulator 1004
5. 1 - Whelen Public Services 3016
6. 1 - 2001 SRN AC
7. 1 - Federal Electric Fedelcode 5HP

My county used to have 8 Whelen 3016s, 1 Federal 5HP, 1 Fedelcode 5HP, 3 2001 ACs, 1 Model 2, and 1 2T22. The Modulator 1004s might of been installed already.

The county uses Wail on the Modulators for 2 Minutes, the short Burst is at the end of the test. The Whelen 3016 does Wail for 3 Minutes, it does a short burst at the beginning of the test. The 2001s do Attack for 3 Minutes, and the Fedelcode does attack for 4 Cycles. If you have any Questions feel free to ask!

[NW Siren Hunters]

Looks like I am going hunting on a day off.

[Metro Siren Synths]

P.S.: The County tests all 19 Sirens on the 1st Monday of every month at Noon, sometimes the Sirens start in a range of 1-3 Minutes early.

Now for a Siren Tale: Back when the Old System was in place, the county was mostly Whelen 3016's. Now its a Modulator Land! During the upgrade, only the Modulators were tested (some failed and only a Plucking Noise was emitted, but the Strobe Lights flashed), the 2001's, Model 5, Fedelcode Model 5, and lone Whelen 3016 were Silent. The Fedelcode Model 5 failed even after the old Sirens were turned back on due to a Fail attempt to fix it after an unknown incident, it still works to this day but after the Fail Fix the Stator tilted and the Bearings Rusted, therefore it has a Slow Wind-Up and a Fast Abrupt Wind-Down.

Now for the 2001's, during the Upgrade, even after the old Sirens were turned on again, the 2001's remained Silent. Months later, the 2001 at Fife High School was upgraded with 21st Century Federal Controllers and turned on with the New System. But for the other 2, they still remain Silent along with 3 Whelen 3016's all in Fife.

The only time the Sirens actually went off on a Non-Test Day was for the 1980 Mt. St. Helens Eruption, and for an Accidental EAS Activation.

For now that's all i know about the Pierce County Sirens.

[Grasshopper]

Pierce County did not update all the older sirens to operate via satellite. I'm pretty sure all the Ultra Voice controls / modulator sirens are updated for satellite activation and as far as I know all are fully operational. Basically if you see a UV control box the site is more than likely on the satellite system. Pay attention to the satellite dishes on the poles as well. No dish, no upgrade. Same thing with the Mt. Rainier sirens. I was just involved with the installation and testing of a new system at The Port of Tacoma. The ports sirens will be activated and integrated with Pierce County (all satellite). Washington AHAB sirens for Tsunami warning are all satellite and DTMF activated but will eventually be updated to the latest greatest satellite technology. The local coastal communities activate their local siresn via hand held radios over DTMF.

[Daniel]

No offense to Washingtonians, but with three tectonic plates meeting under Puget Sound, high groundwater, and an active volcano immediately to the southeast, the Seattle area was a poor choice to settle a large population. I would never invest in real estate there. Of course, in hindsight, people settled Seattle and San Francisco in the 1800's with no knowledge of seismic activities.

[Metro Siren Synths]

We also have the Puget Sound and Commencement Bay right next to me, so I saw a Tsunami Simulation and it pretty much swallows Fife and Industrial Tacoma. So that's one more threat...

I didn't know that outdated sirens didn't have Satellites, you kind of have a point there because the 2001's, Fedelcode, and Whelens are still on original controllers and don't have Satellites. I could've sworn that Pierce County said they would either Upgrade or Replace the older Sirens, I guess I didn't read it right. I am mistaken...

[echo1030]

Does anyone know who controlls gig harbors model 2. It went of about a month ago but no one knew if it was a test or an actual emergency.

[PugetSoundStormWatch]

Bumpity bump bump. Sometime in November of 2014, the Modulator 5020 in Orting was replaced with a Modulator II 8032-B. To my surprise, the Whelen 3016 on 20th Street in Fife was replaced with a 2001-130 early in December of last year. I haven't gotten around to looking at the other 3016s in Fife, but I'm pretty sure those are still up. Some of the sirens have been having problems within the last few months. For example, the 2001s in Fife, and the 3016 and Fedelcode in Puyallup failed one test in either November or December. At the same time, some of the Modulators either activated twice or not at all (the EQC Mod in Fife likely failed; Sumner High's Mod was confirmed to have activated twice). For the January 2016 test, all sirens seem to be working just fine. More updates to come when I get them! :mod:

[Daniel]

I wonder if any of Seattle's old Decots are floating around up there.

[Grasshopper]

City of Fife has 5 2001-130 sirens that are activated via DTMF. These sirens are not activated via satellite as the Pierce County and Port of Tacoma sirens are. 2 different systems.

As far as Pierce County having activation issues that has been addressed. There was some simple programming changes that needed to be made.