Warning Sirens in Orting

Orting sits between two major rivers.

Like the mitigation efforts at the county level, lots of planning in Orting preceeded any action. Fortunately, as of 1998, Orting has finished with the planning stage and is now implementing the changes that might make a difference between life and death.

The town has four emergency evacuation sirens installed. These sirens are to be used for Mount Rainier activity only - not floods, earthquakes, etc. - so that the citizens of Orting know without a doubt what the siren means.

Unfortunately, budget constraints played a big role in which types of sirens could be purchased. With these sirens, someone in charge must manually activate each siren. This reduces the amount of time citizens have to evacuate. It also adds the risk of human error into the equation - what if ...? Chief Fielding hopes to upgrade the system someday so that the sirens can be activated by radio, phone, or automatically by the lahar detection system (Fielding, 11/97).

The sirens will be tested once each month. Fielding hopes that by hearing the sirens each month, citizens will be forced to remember there is a real danger where they live.

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