Graham Fire Department to begin siren testing soon

Graham Fire Department will soon begin its annual period for testing the city’s weather sirens. 

Pending weather conditions and fire calls, testing of the city’s 12 sirens will begin at the end of March or beginning of April and take place every Tuesday around noon through May, or later. 

“They are designed to alert people outside in the city of Graham. …If we are setting off the siren for a legitimate, non-testing reason, they are activated for tornadic activity,” GFD Assistant Chief David Aleshire said. “Some cities might set them off for a multitude of reasons, but ours are set off for tornadic activity.” 

Sirens are at locations around the city at high enough elevation to reach those outside their homes in the city limits.  

“The coverage of each siren is way overlapping each other, so there should be no dead zones for the city of Graham,” Aleshire said. 

The testing period allows the department a period to make sure all aspects of the sirens are running properly and serving the purpose of being an outdoor warning system. 

“(We test them) to make sure they are operational and ready,” Aleshire said. “We also do a monthly function test throughout the year, but that doesn’t set off the actual siren. It’s just a function test to make sure they are communicating.” 

The assistant chief said the department also changes out batteries and performs maintenance on the sirens every other year. 

“That (maintenance) is this year so that sometimes makes it take a little longer. Nine of them have DC backups, so if the AC power goes out because of a storm, they have a DC backup that will still allow them to activate,” Aleshire said. 

Along with the sirens, the National Weather Service will issue multiple alerts in the event of a tornado, or potential tornado formation.  

A Tornado Watch is issued when tornadoes are possible in and near the area, a Tornado Warning is issued when a tornado was signed or indicated by weather radar and a Tornado Emergency is an alert telling area residents to seek shelter immediately. 

If outside during a tornado, seek shelter inside of a study building. For more information on how to prepare for a tornado, visit weather.gov/safety.