Outdoor Siren Warning System

The purpose of a warning system is to interrupt the daily activities of individuals and focus their attention on an emergency situation. The system can only be effective if it is capable of commanding attention 24 hours per day. Additionally, a system must have credibility as an announcement of true emergency events.

The previous siren system was 30+ years old and difficult to maintain. There were 44 existing civil defense era sirens, falling well short of covering our 620 square mile city. While reviewing the use of sirens as a primary warning system, most people concluded that their effectiveness was limited to specific coverage areas. Nevertheless, citizens have an attachment to outdoor sirens and they must, therefore, be a part of our program.

This program replaces the existing sirens and adds enough new sirens to provide reasonable outdoor coverage throughout the City. This project was a priority program that began in FY 2000-01. Our goal was to have the system operational by the 2002 storm season.

A siren system should be viewed only as one piece of an overall strategy for emergency notification.  Citizens should not rely on any single method of notification.  Weather radios, radio broadcasting, television broadcasting, and sirens all play a role.  If the sirens are sounded, citizens should go or remain indoors; tune in to the broadcast media; and take action as appropriate.

Request For Proposals

On December 19, 2000 a Request For Proposals (RFP) was released for a new Outdoor Siren Warning System. The system was intended to replace the existing siren system and provide citywide outdoor coverage.

The following documents represent the initial RFP, questions posed by the prospective vendors, and answers to those questions.

Outdoor Siren RFP   

Outdoor Siren Questions and Answers

Proposals

On February 20, 2001 proposals for the outdoor siren warning system were received from three vendors (American Communications, Federal Signal, and SafetyCom).

On April 3, 2001 following a unanimous recommendation by the evaluation team, City Council authorized staff to negotiate a contract with SafetyCom, Inc. as primary contractor for the new system. The system was to utilize approximately 187 Whelen Engineering electronic sirens. The number and model of sirens would be determined during negotiations, and refined during implementation.

Contract

On May 22, 2001 City Council approved a contract with SafetyCom, Inc. to provide and install a new Outdoor Siren Warning System. The system is one of the largest outdoor siren systems in the country and will include electronic sirens manufactured by Whelen Engineering. The contract called for a base configuration of 181 sirens, 2 control sites, and a radio communication system to monitor and activate the system at a cost not to exceed $4.5 million. The heavily populated urban area will be served by 71 omni-directional sirens and the less populated suburban areas will be served by 110 directional, rotating sirens. All sirens are installed on 50-foot, spun concrete poles.

Installation

On June 11, 2001 survey crews including personnel from the City, SafetyCom, Smith-Roberts, and OESCO spent a week driving all areas of the city, staking 181 potential sites for locating the new outdoor sirens. Some factors considered when locating potential sites included: a desire to use public property and right-of-ways; availability of electrical utilities; population density; the overall coverage requirements; and the desire to minimize any adverse impact to neighborhoods and homeowners.

On June 30, 2001 the Public Safety Capital Project staff met with the Parks Commission and received approval to use Parks Department land for the location of 22 sirens.

On July 16, 2001 installation of the first siren began in far southwest Oklahoma City. The rotational Vortex sirens were installed first in the rural areas, followed by installation of omni-directional sirens in the urban area.

Installation continued throughout the summer, fall, and winter months.  Then on April 16, 2002 (less than a year from contract award) City Council dedicated the system in a ceremony held on the lawn of City Hall.  At the dedication, Mayor Humphreys announced that weekly audible testing would commence on Saturday, April 20, 2002.

Siren Locations

Photos

This site has been developed by The City of Oklahoma City to inform our citizens and other interested parties about the activities relating to the management and implementation of those projects funded by the Police and Fire Equipment temporary sales tax.

The site was updated on Tuesday February 01, 2005