There are two active sirens on the Island – each serve a specific function.

ERIE COUNTY EMERGENCY SIREN – This siren is located on a pole by the school on Division Street and serves as a tornado warning. Most people hear it when it is TESTED ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE MONTH AT NOON. It sounds for three minutes and sounds like it is fading in and out, loud to soft and back again. That is because it rotates to that it broadcasts in all directions across the island.

FIRE SIGNAL – The other siren is located on historic Kelley’s Hall right downtown. This siren is TESTED ON THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH AT 7 p.m. and sounds much like the traditional sirens on fire trucks.

Because of the pager/phone system for alerting firefighters, the siren is no longer required. However, first arrivals to the Fire Station may activate the siren, but only during the day. Originally it was used to call the fire fighters to the station.

At one time there were two of these sirens, one at the office and the other on the water tower. If a fire needed to be reported, there were call buttons at the Island Market and on a post outside of Kelley’s Hall. Once activated, red phones would ring at the fire chief’s home, the VFW and the Village Pump. Why? Along with the sirens, which could be heard across the Island, these were the places that the men were most likely to gather. Now the EMS, Police and Fire Dept. are all tied into the 911 emergency dispatch system.