A louder way to warn people

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, May 5, 2007

Imagine a siren loud enough that everyone in Oak Harbor will be able to hear a warning of a chemical spill, a tsunami or a giant lizard from Japan.

Under the right conditions, that could became a reality with an All-Hazard Alert Broadcasting system, or AHAB, that will be installed in Oak Harbor in the next month or two.

Oak Harbor Fire Chief Mark Soptich said city and Island County emergency personnel have decided to place the AHAB at the highest point in Oak Harbor. That is, at the water towers at the corner of Heller Street and Whidbey Avenue.

Soptich said everyone in the city should be able to hear the high-volume siren, especially if the weather conditions are right.

“It has the ability to transmit 1.5 miles in all directions,” he said. “It covers the whole city.”

Beside the siren, the warning system has flashing lights and can broadcast public address announcements, which would mean a really loud voice alerting people of some danger. Soptich said nobody has been picked to speak through the AHAB amplifying system in the case of an emergency, but he doesn’t want the job.

“I hope we can find someone with a better voice,” he joked.

The AHAB will be self-sufficiently powered through deep-cell batteries, which will work during power outages.

Best of all, the warning system comes virtually free to the city. Island County received a state grant, which will fund $35,000 of the $50,000 needed to purchase the equipment. The county will pick up the rest. Eventually, county emergency officials hope to have four of AHABs on the island.

After the AHAB is in place, Soptich said the fire departments plans to have tests and drills, together with a campaign to educate the community about what to listen for.

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/whidbeynewstimes or call 675-6611.