WSPA News

8/17/24 - Toluca, IL Replaces Legacy Siren System

Table Rock Alerting Systems installed 2 Sentry 14Vs on 8/16/24 to replace the infamous system of Thunderbolts and a Cyclone-120. The northern 14V replaced the southernmost of the two Thunderbolts on the north side of town, and the other 14V indirectly replaced the Cyclone. The northernmost Thunderbolt, eastern Thunderbolt and Cyclone remain switched off until they are removed, which is to be happening soon, if not already.

8/13/24 - "We got TWINS!" "Twisters", the new stand-alone sequel to the iconic 1996 film "Twister" is now streaming!

8/12/24 - Clinton County, IA (Quad Cities Nuclear EPZ) Disconnecting Nuclear Sirens

Clinton County, IA's Emergency Management board unanimously decided to decline an offer from Constellation (Exelon) to obtain the Tempest 128s and 135s scattered around the southeastern portion of the county, which were installed to warn of an impending nuclear emergency at the Quad Cities Nuclear Generating Station along the Mississippi River. Constellation is working on phasing out the sirens in favor of cellular alerts, alert radios and the EAS. 16 Quad Cities nuclear sirens reside within Clinton County, all of which were offered in full to the county's EMA, with which they declined due to high maintenance costs. Individual towns may choose to keep and maintain sirens, however the county itself opted to abandon the sirens. At the current moment, no reports have been found on whether Constellation will keep or remove the sirens in Illinois, however it is assumed that those may follow in the coming years.

7/31/24 - Milwaukee County, WI has begun replacing existing siren system on 7/1/24

In the previous weeks, Milwaukee County, WI has begun replacing their existing siren system with new T-128s and T-135AC/DCs. The very first siren to go was the South Milwaukee "ASC Allertor" (photos here), shortly followed by Greenfield's T-128s. As sirens continue to get replaced, photos will begin to appear on the website. Stay tuned to the Milwaukee County page and respective subpages for the new sirens!

6/6/24 - SirenCon 2024 (6/1/24)

SirenCon 2024 featured many special sirens and events, and even made local news! Many new and returning faces were seen around the event, and lots of new friends were made along the way by many.

 Just a few of the sirens that made an appearance were Mitchell M's EOWS*612 from Westmont, IL, one of Rhinelander, WI's old Alertronic 6000Rs, Jerry Wick's infamous Mobil Directo from Milwaukee, WI with a few touch ups, an Alertronic 4000 from Waukesha, WI, multiple Thunderbolts, Dan K's Whelen 3000 (many attest that it gave the Thunderbolts a run for their money), a SuperBanshee, a German Elektror siren, Connor Fink's Fedelcode Mach 3, Holly D's 3T22, Lombard, IL's fallen (but repaired!) 500-AT, and last but certainly not least, the Schaumburg, IL P-50.

The P-50 was perhaps the biggest show of the day, especially when the chopper split in half during operation at almost exactly 6PM. The siren grinded to a dead halt in about a tenth of a second from nearly full power, demonstrating how catastrophic failures on mechanical sirens can be when things go wrong. Thankfully, SirenCon staff had taken safety measures on all sirens to keep spectators a safe distance away from the sirens during operation, with a further boundary being set up for the P-50 merely for its volume.

As a side note, the P-50 had been taken out of service from Schaumburg due to a piece of fiberglass becoming lodged in the chopper during a tornado warning. It is believed that this event led to a small crack forming in the chopper, which spread at SirenCon from the violent nature of the 50hp motor being bumped on and off to reach full power, which led to the chopper splitting in half causing the failure.

Even despite this, many attendees have echoed that this was the best SirenCon yet! 

6/6/24 - Hibbing, Minnesota New Siren System

Earlier this year, Frontline Warning Systems finished installing a brand new system of Whelen Vortexes in Hibbing, MN. The sirens replaced various kinds of units that had reportedly stood inactive for many years after a radio problem had been encountered and funding could not support a system replacement. The sirens are now fully functional and tested along with the rest of the state on the first Wednesday of each month at 1PM. 

5/8/24 - Milwaukee County, WI Siren Replacements

Milwaukee County, WI is currently awaiting delivery of sirens from American Signal Corp to replace all sirens within the county. According to recent information, some sirens will be installed at different spots from the sirens they replace. It is not known for sure when the replacements will begin showing up. 

4/28/24 - Dinuba, CA's Dual Toned Heath Siren Will Sound on 5/4/24, 10AM

The siren will sound for the city's Cinco De Mayo Parade, according to the Dinuba Fire Department.

4/28/24 - Schaumburg, IL P-50 Replaced by T-135 AC/DC

The P-50 had been malfunctioning for the previous few months and was only rotating. On April 12, 2024, it was confirmed that Fulton Siren Services had installed a brand new T-135 AC/DC on the same pole in place of the P-50. This brings Schaumburg's long running siren project to a close as the final legacy siren in town to be replaced.

See photos here

4/28/24 - (From March 2024) - Cerro Gordo County, Iowa completes siren replacement project

On 3/05/24, the first ever system-wide test of the brand new Cerro Gordo Countywide Siren System took place. The County replaced various sirens around the county with 33 ASC T-121s. Tests will be run automatically and include a 3 minute Alert signal. A roughly $1.1M FEMA grant paid for the system almost in its entirety. The previous sirens around the county were run from various different spots depending on the community, and many of the sirens did not have battery backup.

Mason City had 12 2001-SRNBs. They now have 14 T-121s.

Clear Lake & Ventura had 10 2001-130s. They now have 10 T-121s.

Plymouth had 1 3T22, and now has 1 T-121.

Rock Falls had no siren, and now has 1 T-121.

Portland had no siren, and now has 1 T-121.

Burchinal had no siren, and now has 1 T-121.

Rockwell had 1 2001-130 and 1 3T22, and now has 1 T-121.

Swaledale had 2 Model 2s, and now has 1 T-121 and 1 (assumed inactive) Model 2.

Thornton had 1 T-121, and now has 1 new T-121.

Dougherty had 1 Model 2, and now has 1 T-121.

Meservey had 1 3V8, and now has 1 T-121.

See photos here