CFA siren silenced

By Tania Martin
AN Emerald woman has slammed a council decision to silence the town’s CFA siren as “unsafe.”
The decision was made last May as part of a planning application for the brigade’s new station house in Emerald-Monbulk Road.
A shire spokesperson said the application received a number of objections over noise from the proposed siren.
She said the applicant (CFA) then decided to amend its proposal and remove the siren.
“The application was not re-advertised as its removal was based on a request,” she said. “It was advised the siren would be replaced by a pager system to contact brigade members for call-outs.”
But Nicole Coomer, 28, said most residents didn’t even know it had happened.
“I think it’s unfair no-one has been notified about it … it’s a community issue and we should be able to have our say,” she said. “Having people thinking there is going to be a siren when there is not is just unsafe.”
Ms Coomer is now starting a petition to have the siren reinstated.
She only discovered it had been silenced following a street corner fire meeting in December.
Ms Coomer said data from the CFA showed that last year there were only three call-outs a night per month between 10pm and 7am.
She said she understood the siren was primarily to notify CFA volunteers of incidents but it was also an extra tool for residents during the bushfire season.
Ms Coomer said it was ridiculous the residents had not been informed.
She said many residents relied on the siren as a warning to look out for fires in the region.
Ms Coomer said only two and a half months ago there had been a fire at the end of her street and they wouldn’t have known if the siren didn’t go off.
“We were out in the garden out the back and we couldn’t smell or see smoke but the siren went off and found out it was five doors up the street,” she said.
“A burn-off had got out of control and went up the trees … we would still have been in the backyard if we didn’t hear the siren.”
Resident Christine Whittaker said it was especially concerning if there was a fire at night.
“Who’s to know someone isn’t going to start a fire at night and if you are in bed you can hear the siren go off and check what is going on,” she said.
Ms Coomer said although the CFA said the first point of call was for residents to look and smell for smoke, it wasn’t always possible.
“When it’s not a total fire ban, every second property on any given day is burning off,” she said. “If it’s a warm day it’s a rare thing to not see or smell smoke around here … how do you decipher between that and an emergency?”