WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — The Washington Court House Fire Department is asking residents not to be alarmed if they hear outdoor warning sirens sound briefly on a Friday afternoon, explaining in a social media post that the noise is routine testing, not an emergency.
The department said the city’s sirens, which also cover Good Hope, are tested on the fourth Friday of each month at noon. Sirens in Fayette County’s villages and townships, which are activated separately through the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center, are tested on the last Friday of each month, also at noon, according to the post.
In most months the fourth Friday and the last Friday fall on the same day, so residents hear both systems tested together. In months when the dates differ, the city’s siren may sound one week and the villages and townships the next, the department said.
If severe weather is possible on a scheduled test day, the department said it will not sound a live siren. Instead, crews run a silent test that verifies the system is communicating properly without an audible activation.
“Regular testing, whether audible or silent, is how we make sure that when a siren sounds for a real warning, you know it means something,” the fire department said in its post.
The reminder comes a day after the department addressed a separate public safety question, explaining why the city’s sirens stayed silent during a tornado warning that passed south of Washington Court House. That system is designed to activate only when a National Weather Service warning polygon actually reaches the city, while the countywide system operated by the sheriff’s office sounds every siren in Fayette County any time a warning is issued anywhere within its borders.
The information contained in this story was obtained from the Washington Court House Fire Department.
