The other day after work, we were making dinner and all of a sudden, some sort of warning siren sounded. This went on for about 5 minutes or so, enough to make all the hounds in the 'hood bark. We weren't quite sure what it was but thought they were testing the warning system. Not many days later, the same siren sounded, this time lasting for about 20 minutes.
(This warning siren is reminiscent of my home town "whistle." The whistle dates back to factory days and blows at 7 a.m., noon, 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Even on the weekends. Except for Sunday when they abstain from the 7 a.m. one. For "nostalgic" reasons, the town voters decided to keep the whistle blowing, although it still causes some rankor.)
The Wanchese whistle blowing continued and we finally found out why it blows. It is the warning system for the volunteer fire department. The length of time the whistle blows depends on the time of day, type of fire alarm and other factors no one could quite explain to us. We apparently have been lucky and not had a fire alarm in all these months we've been living there.
2 comments:
Aww, Petersburg used to have a noon whistle also, it was great when I was a kid, everyone knew when lunch was, especially when the fish canneries were going full tilt in the summertime. They sadly ended the noon whistle a few years ago (not sure the reason why, I'm sure Zieak could fill in here)
In Juneau there is an hourly church chime of some sort downtown, a little less alarming but still nostalgic!
Keep safe! xxoo King Family
The howling hounds it sets off are the best!
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