Major fires, incidents in industrial plants or natural disasters - there are a variety of scenarios in which it is necessary to warn the affected population of dangers and provide them with information on what to do. Not least the devastating floods in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia last summer showed that the right mix of modern technology, such as warning apps, and traditional methods, such as warning messages on radio and television, is essential. In this context, it also became clear that sirens are still indispensable for effectively warning the population, as the insistent and loud sound signal alerts everyone in the vicinity to imminent danger and wakes them up at night.
The last time the 35 sirens in the city area were triggered with the one-minute wailing sound that swells up and down was in 2020 as part of the nationwide warning day. It was determined that more sirens were needed to warn the population in residential areas across the board. Thanks to a funding program initiated by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), it is now possible to close the existing gaps in the short term and implement a technical renewal of the siren network.
"We used the findings from the warning day and submitted a well-founded application for the optimization of the siren network in Salzgitter within a few days of the funding programme being announced. I am delighted that our concept was fully convincing and that we were allocated funding of €580,600!" said Lord Mayor Frank Klingebiel.
As part of the project, a total of around 55 electronic high-performance sirens will be installed in the city, which will not only emit warning signals but also offer the option of voice announcements. In addition to the existing siren locations, which will continue to be used wherever possible, new sirens will be installed on public buildings or masts, particularly in the districts of Bad, Lesse, Lebenstedt and Watenstedt. A working group of the city administration is currently preparing to award the contract to a specialist company and the first systems are expected to be installed from the summer of this year.
In addition to the technical implementation, it is also necessary to raise public awareness of the importance of siren signals. "Unfortunately, many citizens do not know the siren signals or only associate them with the alerting of the volunteer fire department. Therefore, from 2023, we will use the sirens exclusively to warn the population - so that everyone can clearly recognize that there is an acute danger situation," adds Fire Department Head and First City Councillor Eric Neiseke. The alerting of the local fire departments will continue to be ensured by equipping all firefighters with digital message receivers (so-called pagers).
