This blog started in March 2006 to give Merchantville residents a place to share concerns and discuss issues about our town. Although I try to post at least once a week, the heart of the conversation takes place in the comments made by others, linked from the bottom of each post.
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M.
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24 comments:
Let's start a discussion on the continuing need for the fire siren. I think that electronic communications (bepers and cellphones) completely proven themselves and the fire siren is no longer needed. The one at the west end of town was shut off years ago. the one near the fire station should be eliminated.
Have some patience -- when they build those 60-foot buildings covering the entire triangle, sdewalk to sidewalk, you'll probably never hear the siren again! Or see the sun.
I love the fire siren. I lived in Garwood where the prior homeowner was a volunteer firemen and had the "siren code" taped to the wall. I always knew where the fire emergencies were.
Love the church bells too. Keep time with them.
Alice Diamond
Absent a real need for it, I don't see how anyone can love the fire siren when it sounds off on a great mild weather day when the windows are open and folks are trying to rest. Same goes doubly for violating the rule about "never wake a sleeping baby." That thing does it all the time. It is just unnecessary noise pollution.
While if they build the 60 foot buildings it may reduce the noise for those north of the triangle, it may have the effect of increasing the noise for those south of the triangle.
The community simply does not need this thing and it should be eliminated.
I was a volunteer firefighter when I lived in Wenonah. I don't believe it's unnecessary at all.
Pagers stop working, get broken, have batteries run down, left in the charger in another room where they can't be heard, or are inadvertantly turned off.
As far as cellphones go - dispatch isn't going to call every one of the firefighters to let them know there's a call. Response time would go from a few minutes to nearly an hour! Meanwhile, what do the dispatchers do with all those other calls for assistance they're receiving.
Pagers are good, yes, and the tones go out just before the siren wails, but surprisingly often, the wailing siren is the first thing the firefighter (or EMS person) hears.
The fire siren in our community is antiquated and costly to run, technology works and the Borough spends $ every year on pagers. The volunteers take it as a personal battle when their siren is discussed. It is time to shut it off at least try it for a short time, as for hearing the siren I wonder how many fireman are around in the area to here it,pagers work let's use them.
How costly can the siren be to run? Do you have figures, or are you guessing? It takes a lot of current, yes, but only for a minute or two several times a day. I suspect it's a lot cheaper to run than your PC.....
No I don't have exact figures, just common sense, plus my PC is new technology and I shut it off when I go to bed.
It appears to me you're just guessing, nose. Lets look at some real data:
The siren pulls about 2500 watts when it operates, but it only operates for three to five minutes a day, generally. That equates to 208 watt-hours a day, .208 kilowatthours (kwh) if we use five minutes. The cost of electricity is about 15 cents per KWH, plus 3-4 cents for delivery charges. There are other fees and what-not that PSE&G can charge, so lets say the average cost per kwh is 25 cents, just to be conservative (you can check the PSE&G tarrif schedule yourself at http://www.pseg.com/companies/pseandg/schedules/pdf/electric_tariff.pdf). That means the siren costs.... let's see.... rounded off, five cents a day to operate (actually it's about 5.2 cents, but the siren often only goes off once a day and occasionally not at all, so dropping the .2 cents per day seems reasonable). So let's see.... yearly that equates to $18.25 ($19.03 on leap years, using the full 5.2 cents per day cost).
So, roundly, the siren costs $20 a year to operate.
Your PC - Let's say it's an energy efficient unit, so it only pulls, say, 120 watts (that's a VERY efficient unit). Now let's suppose for the sake of argument you have it running two hours a day (I don't know your personal use patterns - maybe you use it substantially less, maybe more. How about others who use it? But two hours a day isn't atypical, so it will serve as an illustration). Using the same figures as above, the cost of using your PC over a year is $21.90 per year ($21.96 on a leap year. Daily cost is 6 cents).
Even if my electric costs figures are off by half, it still only costs about 40 dollars a year to run the siren.
Not very expensive.
What basis did you use to determine that the siren is "costly to run?" Common sense, I think you said? A few minutes of research might have served you better (at the very least, it's less likely to leave you with egg on your face).
Hmmmm. The URL was truncated by the posting routine. Here it is again, with spaces added to make the whole thing visible:
http://www.pseg.com/companies/ pseandg/schedules/pdf/ electric_tariff.pdf).
Remove the spaces to see the web page.
Mark B.
Have you tried tiny url? Learn to love it.
www.tinyurl.com
Alice Diamond
Well, last Wednesday or Thursday night the fire siren sounded at 12:52 AM. Lifted me about a foot off the bed as it woke me from a sound sleep. This reminded me of the policy established by the mayor the last time folks got vocal over the siren, that it was not to sound between 11 PM and 7 AM. The 12:52 sounding was a mistake by the dispatcher; they must have realized the mistake because it only lasted about one and a half blasts rather than the usual three blasts. Usually it never sounds between 11PM and 7 AM but there are obviously times between those hours that the fire company is summoned and answers calls (quietly I might add unless it seems they really need the truck sirens).
My point in mentioning all of this is that if there was a true communication need for the siren, its use would not be prohibited from 11 PM to 7 AM. Are we less safe betwwen 11PM and 7 AM? In the several years that the siren has been prohibited from 11PM to 7 AM has there been a significant failure for a fire call to be successfully staffed? The thing is simply not necessary. It creates more ill-will than benenfits. If it was needed I would be the first to say that the unpleasant side effects are worth the benefits but that simply is not the case. This is simply noise pollution.
The EMS did away with using the siren years ago.
Well, the Fire Chief himself stood up at the Planning Board meeting on 27 June and said that the siren WAS critical, because of the poor condition of the pager system the department also uses. If that isn't true, then perhaps the siren SHOULD be turned off. Of course, that also means the chief is guilty of perjury...
i am enjoying the school conversations on the other threads. check this out...
"i am so glad we have this blog. now the truth can be discussed and heard and not just what the school board and town council want heard. it is about time that the school quality is addressed. it either needs to improve or we need to merge with pennsauken."
where is the school thread?
The school threat is just below this one on the main page (the last thread listed, currently). I believe there is a BOE meeting tonight at 7:30 at the school library, too.
The smaller schools thread is the 8th one listed on "Previous Posts".
A resident in the Maple Terrace area told me today that 23 cars were vandalized in Merchantville Friday or Saturday night. Most had slashed tires, and one vehicle had all 4 tires flattened.
Please be vgilant and observant, especially on weekends.
Regarding the fire siren - With so many different people it is always hard to please everyone about every issue. I have only recently moved to Merchantville and I was very happy to hear the fire siren and the church bells. I am originally from a large city and have not heard anything like this since I was a child. The elementry school in my neigbourhood used to sound the fire alarm. As I live near the churches as well, these are sounds that remind me why I chose to live in a small community. I love technology probably more than the average person but as a society we seem so quick to get rid of the old ways and traditions. I would be as inclined to argue as strongly against new building development which is not in keeping with the traditional style of the community as I would against having the fire bell silenced.
HI,
My greatgrandfather John Lynch came to Merchantville from Ireland around 1865 and is listed at age 28 on the 1870 census (page 38) with his wife Kate (23) and his daughter Annie (2). He was a farm laborer. Do you know where I could find records from this era for Merchantville?
MVille Cruiser,
This thread regarding the fire siren should be moved to the front page where all can see it. I was looking for a place to post my comments below and stumbled across the comments regarding the fire siren.
I, too, am from a large city (with a PAID Fire Department) and enjoy the bells and sirens of Merchantville. Alice, Mark B. and Jacqui, thanks for your support!
*****************
Last week at the planning board meeting, I had the pleasure of witnessing small-town America at its finest. It is always spectacular to realize we live in a society where everyone can stand and voice their opinion, whether concurring or dissenting, without fear of retribution. (Let me state that I am 90% for the project.) I am not completely sold on the project in its entirety, but agree with most of the planning. I thank the Planning Board for the dedication to the job and pray that they complete exhaustive research before deciding on an outcome - possibly approval with some conditions. God Bless America!
Unfortunately, my evening ended on a sour note. As a resident and fellow volunteer firefighter and I were standing outside the Community Center discussing the evening’s events, we were approached by my colleague’s neighbor. At first, I thought her verbal assaults were in jest, but quickly realized she was deadly serious.
She complained that the fire siren had gone off the previous night at 12:45AM. She further stated that our pagers are sufficient enough to alert us of a call and to get us to the firehouse and that all the fire calls are false alarms and are completed within 10 minutes anyway. I was almost speechless at her irate manner.
Recently, the Department Chief has made the concession that the siren SHOULD NOT be activated between the hours of 11PM and 7AM. The siren is controlled by a timer, not a dispatcher. The siren timer malfunctioned and will be checked. (This happens from time to time in the event of a power failure or surge at the firehouse.)
More importantly, most of the Fire Department pagers are over 10 years old. Do you know anyone who carries a 10 year old cell phone? (New model pagers notoriously hit dead spots, or the programming fails.) The technology is exactly like cell phones. The service is not always available.
Her response, to my stating this, was ‘Well, then buy new pagers’. The entire Fire Department operates on a budget of roughly $36,000 per year. This includes building maintenance, vehicle maintenance, equipment and supplies, training, utilities, etc. Perhaps, those who are annoyed by the siren would support a fulltime Department and associated employee salary and benefit costs? See how annoyed they become when their new tax bill arrives.
My wife and child are awakened most times, when my pager goes off in the middle of the night... unless they are lucky enough to have my pager fail. Fortunately, my family understands that I am doing something good for our community by providing fire protection at a next-to-nothing cost.
Finally, to her statement that all fire calls are 10 minutes or less. That is a wish every volunteer has. That would mean no fires, no motor vehicle accidents, no basement flooding would occur, no assistance needed by the Police for lockouts, domestic violence, and no tree limbs down in the middle of the street or on your house. Unfortunately, this is not the case. These things happen and the Fire Department will be there - whether it’s a false alarm or not.
If you take exception to the way the FD is notified of; responds to; or handles calls, join us and work with us to make us a better Department. We are a VOLUNTEER department. (Mark, we would love to have another experienced firefighter join us. Feel free to contact me for an application.) We meet, train, drill, and provide fire protection to Merchantville on OUR time. We don’t ask for anything but a few dollars a year to buy new equipment, gear, etc.
What if it were YOUR house, your family members were involved in a fire or accident, your basement was flooded and what if no one answered the call because the pager was old, new system failed, forgot to charge the battery, was working in the yard and was not within earshot of the pager? Maybe the truck sirens would alert this firefighter.
To the lady who heatedly complained on Tuesday night to a couple of guys that are trying to do something good for their community, a simple ‘thank you’ would have been sufficient.
Thank you,
Ryan Hummel
Niagara Fire Company of Merchantville
Having lived in Merchantville for over 50 years, I can remember the siren at 5 PM each day. That's was my signal to head home for dinner. And there is nothing more small-town and ressuring than hearing the church bells on Sunday morning. I miss those old days, and we would be a lot better off if we had the bells and a siren that could be heard from every location in the boro. It is my understanding that the Browning Rd siren was disabled at the request of one "influential" resident who was annoyed at the sound -- in spite of the fact that it is required by STATE LAW.
what do these council members think "if you build it they will come"? Does anybody see that there are many stores vacant including the new PNC building? The townhouses that were meant for seniors are still sitting empty-probably soon to be sold to low income. Why would there still be any talk of building anything on the triangle but a park? No one shops in Merchantville as it is- why would you add more stores? now they are putting a bikepath-wont that be right in front of the new apartment building?or will that be torn up when they start building the MUST NEEDED building and stores
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