Features

City Will Test Emergency Sirens Thursday

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday April 20, 2004

When the air raid sirens shatter Berkeley’s daytime calm this Thursday and next, don’t worry. It’s only a test. 

Though George Bush told reporters last week that until 9/11, Americans felt safe from attacks over the oceans, anyone over the age of 40 will probably remember the days when the Cold War was at its scariest heights and duck-and-cover drills and siren tests were monthly events. 

Between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on both days, the city’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services will be sounding siren blast s to test how well the noisemakers can be heard in different parts of the city. 

For each proposed siren location tested, city workers will sound a series of four one-minute siren blasts spaced several minutes apart. The mobile test sirens will be located at Indian Rock Avenue and Oxford Street, Panoramic Way at the Oakland city limits, Bonar Street and Allston Way, and Cragmont Avenue and Regal Road. 

The sirens could cover a range of emergencies, including fires in the hills and chemical spills, according to Emergency Service Manager Bill Greulich. 

—Richard Brenneman