Don’t Be Alarmed, Sirens To Be Tested In Bismarck!

If you hear sirens going off in the city over the course of the next couple of days, no need for alarm.  The Bismarck-Burleigh Outdoor Warning system Siren maintenance and testing activities will occur this week beginning today, Tuesday, April 13th and continuing through Wednesday, April 14th, according to an email obtained from the city of Bismarck.

A technician with Federal Signal will be visiting each of the 24 siren sites around the city of Bismarck to ensure the warning systems are receiving the signal properly for activation.  The city of Bismarck just purchased a new system last year, according to Mayor Steve Bakken.  The previous system had several faulty sirens, that were not fixable.

Individual sirens will be sounded for about 10 seconds or less as the technician checks each of them.  If you hear a brief siren "blip" on either today or Wednesday this week do not be alarmed.  Not to mention, it hardly looks or feels like tornado weather.  wink wink.  In the event of an emergency, all sirens would sound simultaneously for 3 minutes, similar to the monthly test.

Or course the outdoor warning system is used for more than just tornadoes.  The bottom line is that when you hear those sirens on non test times, severe weather or other critical emergencies are coming our way. (Prairie fires, tornadoes, floods, National Emergencies, etc)

If you have any questions, please contact Gary Stockert with Emergency Management at 701-222-6727.