Langhorne fire siren is loud. But firefighters say it's still critical to public safety
Firehouse sirens have long been used to call volunteer firefighters to blazes and other emergencies.
The need for the siren atop Langhorne-Middletown Fire Co. Station 21 is again a debate in the borough as Councilman Scott Haldeman fronts an effort for its removal, while fire officials protest calling it essential to public safety.
Langhorne-Middletown Fire Chief Frank Farry admits he is “fired up” about Haldeman starting a petition drive. He questions the validity of the 200 signatures collected to have the siren turned off and questions why the councilman declined to make a motion and take the removal to a vote at two recent council meetings. Farry, who is also a state senator, also wonders why Haldeman took his concerns to the public first instead of fire officials.
“It goes off every time they get a call, sometimes four or five times a day,” Haldeman said. “It’s extremely loud. Businesses have to stop doing what they’re doing.”
But Farry said it’s needed, especially now as fewer people volunteer to be firefighters.
"We have to do more with less members and certainly cannot afford to have any member miss a call because of not being alerted," he said. "Technology can be unreliable ― cellphones not having service or being left on silent or in another room. Pagers have dead zones." He added that the siren also alerts motorists to an emergency and helps move traffic so firefighters can get to the station and to the emergency in a timely, safe manner.
"Not a single business has come to us about this," Farry said. "We're trying so hard to keep this community safe ... Public safety is absolutely being compromised," he said if the siren were to be turned off.
Bucks County Emergency Management Director Audrey Kenney said 60 percent of the county’s approximately 100 fire companies still used sirens, according to a 2019 survey. The Bucks County 911 Communications Center sounds the alarm.
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“Some departments keep them to tell the community they’re going out on a call, please watch for emergency vehicles coming to the station and responding. They serve as an audible reminder that there is an emergency in the area," Kenney said.
At a recent borough council work session, Farry and firefighters came in support of the siren. Five of the seven council members agreed. Kathleen Horwatt wasn’t in attendance and Haldeman is still against it.
Horwatt said later that over 30 years ago when she was council president, council negotiated a deal with the fire company to turn the siren off overnight, reduce the decibels and the number of cycles the siren sounded per call from six to three. The siren now sounds only from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. She promised at the time not to ask for more restrictions and planned to keep her word.
Farry said the siren debate comes up every few years.
Siren affecting property values in Langhorne?
“I detest the siren. However, if the volunteer fire company say they need it, they need it. My personal feelings do not matter,” Council President Paul Murdock said.
The Langhorne-Middletown Fire Co. is separate from the borough government and the borough doesn’t control the siren's operation. The siren cannot be turned off without the fire department's approval unless the borough entertained legal action, Haldeman stated.
Haldeman, a real estate appraiser, said the loud siren affects the property values of neighboring businesses and homes in the historic town. There is an insurance benefit for properties close to a firehouse but “having a siren has a negative effect to the marketability of a property that far outweighs the insurance benefit,” he said.
Are Langhorne businesses affected?
At the Langhorne Coffee House at the corner of Maple and Bellevue avenues, owner Tim James thinks the siren should be on a higher tower so sound waves can travel farther and aren’t so loud in the immediate vicinity.
Hairstylist Morgan Pantano doesn't feel the siren is necessary with all the technology available for alerts.
Borough businessman Randy Hips said, "If it goes off and you're on the phone, you can't hear the other person and they can't hear you ... There's all kinds of electronic devices they could use."
Haldeman said it doesn't make sense to him that firefighters can do without the siren at night but not during the day while other fire companies in Bucks don't use a siren at all.
Siren helps with traffic during an emergency
But Farry said there is a lot of traffic in the borough during the day and the siren alerts firefighters to get to the station and motorists to let the volunteers through and allows fire trucks get to calls quickly.
The petition and debate, fire officials said, is taking a toll on volunteer members, who are working to protect the community. On Christmas Day, Farry and others were called to 12 alarms.
"The attack on a tool that we utilize to maximize safety for the residents, employees and customers in Langhorne Borough is excessive and based on falsehoods," said fire company President Steve Link. He said it is "demoralizing to the men and women who put their lives on hold and potentially in harm's way at a moment's notice for these same uninformed strangers who are supporting the petition."
The petition states that firefighters argue for the siren as a tradition. "We have never argued in defense of the siren based on tradition," Farry said in an email. And while the petition says that cellphones can tell firefighters to report directly to a fire scene, Farry said that is a direct violation of the fire company's bylaws and operation policies.
"We hate the siren more than anyone," Farry said, "because when it blows, we must all stop our lives, leave our families or work and become the professional firefighters of this community."
But, its needed, he said, despite the noise.
Paul Schneider, Langhorne’s Planning Commission director, said a lot of people “don’t particularly like the siren but respect the expertise of the fire company.”
The council plans to ask new Borough Manager Steve Bradshaw and Police Chief John Godzieba to meet with the fire company to discuss needs, including help with fire inspections and the retention of current firefighters.
And at Wednesday night's Council meeting, Murdock said the fire company received a list of questions about its needs but he hadn't heard back yet.
The discussion of the siren “has to come from the fire company,” Murdock said.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Debate continues on Langhorne fire siren necessity for public safety
