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Amityville Village looks at alternatives to siren alarms A change in policy by the Amityville Village Fire Department has addressed some of the concerns of residents about the sounding of the emergency siren. Beginning in December, the department stopped sounding the alarm during the night time hours from 8 p.m., until 8 a.m. "We are not unsympathetic with the residents who live near the sirens," said Amityville Fire Chief Arthur Smith. "The siren is not intended to upset our residents; our goal is to help our community; that is why we volunteer our time." The change came following a flurry of opposition from some residents living on Shore Road who said that the siren is sounded so many times during the night that it has interrupted their sleep and reduced the quality of life- and home values- for residents living there. Lawrence Tullar, a resident of Shore Road, appeared at a Village board meeting in October, saying that the siren was outdated, unnecessary and should be shut off permanently. "It is as unnecessary and abusive to the community as it was eight years ago," said Tullar referring to the time when the Village shut down the siren for several years at the request of a resident whose child had hearing problems. In response, Mayor Peter T. Imbert met with fire department officials to continue discussions about the issue that had been underway for some time. The result was a decision to eliminate the night time soundings. In addition, the department has shortened the cycle of the siren, eliminating its wind up and peak, and is researching how other departments have addressed the issue. The only exception is in the event the department receives two calls simultaneously, or volunteers at the scene of a fire or major emergency need back up. In that instance, the department may have to sound the siren at night. There are approximately 7 siren locations in the Village. The focus of the changes is to not only to respond to residents' concerns but also to maintain the ability of the department to adequately respond to rescue and fire calls in a timely manner said both the Mayor and Chief Smith. "Years ago we had Robinson Ambulance and other private companies responding to calls," said Imbert. "When they no longer responded to calls for rescue service, the fire department had to take over and they needed the siren. Calls for rescue went up 90 percent at that time, and while I understand the concern of residents living near those sirens, it is a problem we have to carefully work out." "This is really a work in progress and we are asking the public to be patient," said Smith in talking about the changes. Central to the issue is the responsibility of the Village to ensure that every call to the fire department is responded to quickly and efficiently. "There are lives at stake and we can't move forward and find out later that the change we made to accommodate people who did not want to hear the siren cost someone their life," said Imbert. Tullar said he appreciates the efforts being made by the Village to address his concerns and those of other residents, but maintains that in today's technological environment where cell phones, pagers and other forms of communication are available, sirens do not improve response time. "They serve no real purpose," he said. "And if the department is having difficulty getting its volunteers to respond, then that is an issue that should be addressed between the chief and the volunteers, and the rules set up by the department for those volunteers." Smith disagrees. "I don't know of any department that has eliminated the use of them (sirens) entirely," he said, adding that there are limits to the use of pagers and cell phones. "Not everyone is going to have their cell phones or pagers on them at all times and we need to have a way to alert our volunteers in emergencies." Imbert said that the Village is seriously considering hiring full-time EMTs during the day, and that the board will be discussing adding the cost of that change into its coming budget. This should reduce the number of times the siren must be sounded and improve response time, said the Mayor who estimates that the cost for a full-time EMT would be approximately $80,000 to $100,000 a year.
"Our department volunteers are doing a phenomenal job in responding to emergencies at times when personnel is just not available and at times we have to rely upon mutual aid," said Imbert. "The issue is first and foremost about getting help to residents quickly, and second, it is about sirens."
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