Pinewood Fire District has made the decision to disconnect the Onmi-directional siren from the Thorgard Lightning Alert System. We have done this for a number of reasons. The first being that we have received numerous complaints from residents living near the siren and those using the playground area located near the fire station. Additionally, we have had the capacity to use the siren to communicate a true emergency to our community. However, we feel that the continuous alarms due to lightning has decreased the effectiveness.
Pinewood Fire District has worked with the Pinewood Country Club to come up with a solution to these issues. The Omni-directional Siren will now be utilized ONLY in the event of a TRUE EMERGENCY. The Thorgard Lightning detection system will remain in place at the fire station. The Thorgard system includes a set of air horns located on the roof of the fire station and will still sound when there is lightning in the area. The Country Club will then set off their electronic siren (located near the pro shop) to notify golfers on the course.
Again, the Omni-directional Siren located at the playground will now be exclusively used to notify community members of a true emergency. The activation of this siren will coincide with a message from the Coconino County Emergency Notification System.
We encourage everyone to sign up for the County alerts at http://coconino.az.gov/ready or call 928-679-8311.
This system allows the County to send emergency notifications in the form of a text message or phone recording to your phone and will include details such as an evacuation notification, as an example.
Additional information will be available on the District website at www.pinewoodfire.org and on our Facebook page @pinewoodfire.
Our mission at Pinewood Fire District is to protect the lives and property of those in our community. We feel that these changes will work to improve that mission as well as make Munds Park a more pleasant place to live. As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact us at 928-286-9885
Yours in life safety,
Josh Tope
Fire Chief