On Thursday, roof sirens sound the alarm in the district - in one community it remains silent

Created: 06/12/2022, 15:28

By: Josef Ametsbichler

Special case: The siren on the messed up fire station in Münster (municipality of Egmating) must be moved to a mast because of the monument protection, according to district fire councilor Andreas Heiss.

© Stefan Rossmann

On the warning day on Thursday, December 8th, things should go better than in the past.

Especially with the warning via the smartphone.

District

– Almost everywhere in the district of Ebersberg they greet you from the roofs of exposed buildings: alarm sirens.

Tomorrow, Thursday, December 8, they are all supposed to start crying at 11 a.m. sharp.

Then the nationwide alarm day takes place.

It failed a year ago, and two years ago the campaign highlighted deficits in digital alarms: Many of the smartphone apps that are supposed to alert their users to imminent dangers remained silent.

It should be better this year.

In addition to apps such as Nina or Katwarn, cell phones should also be controlled via the "Cell Broadcast" system - an anonymous system for which no registration is necessary.

It is sufficient if the function is activated and the corresponding device is technically up to date and connected to the local mobile network at the time of the alarm.

This is how the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance explains it: "We can't reach more people with any other warning device."

Poing as the only community in the district without sirens

In the district, this certainly applies to the municipality of Poing, the only one that no longer has alarm sirens on its roofs.

Elsewhere, however, the unusual warning tone (rising and falling for one minute) is likely to reach those who do not have a smartphone or do not have it with them - in an emergency, the warning is intended to persuade the population to turn on the radio to hear urgent information.

The flood in the Ahr valley, in which the lack of warning options probably cost many people their lives, and the war in Ukraine have also triggered a rethink in the district, says District Fire Councilor Andreas Heiss.

The big catastrophes were a long time coming, which is why the roof sirens seemed obsolete to some.

"The topic is currently over," says Heiss.

"We unanimously agree that we will not dismantle them."

The warning tone is used by the fire brigade as an alarm signal

Especially in the large communities in the country, the warning tone is even more part of everyday life.

There it serves the volunteer fire brigades as an alarm signal, while in the more populous communities such as Vaterstetten, Ebersberg or Markt Schwaben, radio beepers are increasingly used, explains the district fire council.

In some cases, hybrid methods are also used - the siren is then triggered during the day to round up more emergency services, or as reassurance in "large-scale situations".

All sirens are set off on a trial basis on the first Saturday afternoon of the month, together with the radio alarm.

It only remains silent in Poing - Brandrat Heiss does not want to rule out that this will change again in the future.

Preparations have been going on for a long time

While the fire brigade acts more as an observer on Thursday, the fire and disaster protection department in the district office is on alert.

A spokeswoman said that the office must report afterwards on how well the alarm went.

They have been preparing for a long time and are prepared for this thanks to the semi-annual warnings that take place in Bavaria anyway - only the warning via smartphone is different.

The warning day is "useful to raise public awareness of the warning."

You can read more news from the Ebersberg region here.

By the way: everything from the region is also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.