April 10, 2024 9:40 a.m.

Covering coastal Douglas County:

The Reedsport Volunteer Fire Department is in the process of replacing the two old fire sirens with new updated sirens.

A release from Fire Chief Tom Anderson said the reason for the change is that the present sirens are from the World War II era. Anderson said they use a lot of electrical power to operate, and parts are extremely hard to find. He said the new siren system is very cost effective, has battery backup and is ideal for emergency alerts.

The release said Douglas County has given the department permission to use their disabled tsunami siren located at the Courthouse Annex on Winchester Avenue. The siren has been programmed to sound like the old siren – with five revolutions lasting approximately one minute.

Anderson said the fire department is currently working to replace the old fire siren at the fire station, located on Frontage Road. When work is finished on the new siren it will be put into operation.

Fire siren operation in Reedsport is a secondary alert system along with the primary pager system alerting firefighters that a fire incident is occurring. The fire sirens alert firefighters in case the paging system fails due to computer or electrical issues.

Residents with questions can call the Reedsport Volunteer Fire Department at 541-271-2423, weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.