Kudos for thinking about strategic planning and disaster preparedness.

I disagree with a siren system however. Unless you know what it's for, it leaves people wondering what to do. There is a countywide effort to utilize what already is in existence -- SMC Alert -- rather than add another notification system.

I agree with Bob - a siren system would be confusing. If I heard the siren, I wouldn’t know what to do. I would still have to find out versus a text message; then I know immediately.

Too bad Chuck is not running for council. He could use his skills there as Virginia Chang Kiraly uses her skills on both the San Mateo County Harbor District and Fire Board. Way to go Virginia......We are so fortunate to have the both of you.

I don't think sirens would be a good idea. There are already those systems around the Bay Area that all 'signal' different things to do when the siren goes off. So if the fire district puts one in what are we supposed to do? and it would be used for when? fire, flood, attack, earthquake, etc.

I prefer the alerts that I get on my phone. They tell me what's going on, and, if necessary, what to do.

The problem with cell phone alerts is that so few people are signed up for such alerts.

In San Mateo County only 60,000 people are enrolled in SMC Alert out of a county population of over 700,000.

It's nice to see an article that's not attacking the MPFPD for a change.

Maybe we need to get more people to register for a current system rather than buying a new one.

Even if the communities in the north bay had siren and they went off, what would that mean? A person still has to go to another device to find out what the alert is for and then what to do.

The story reports "Develop a districtwide emergency warning siren system."

What the Board adopted as a priority was a districtwide emergency warning system.

One such a system, which includes voice announcements and different tone/sounds, will be tested next week:

"LRAD ONE VOICE systems are advanced mass notification solutions that broadcast warning sirens and exceptionally intelligible voice messages to protect and save lives."

Web Link

This combination of voice messaging and tone alerting obviates the above expressed concerns about the ambiguity of a siren only system.