Phones best tornado alerts fire chief warns Fort Lupton

outside hearing the sirens should take shelter and check with online services via their phones or home computer.

BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Fort Lupton has a robust system of sirens designed to warn residents of impending dangerous weather, but Fire Chief Paul Ti any recommends relying on something more personal – their cell phones.

“ e sirens are not meant to be heard inside of the home,” Ti any, chief of the Fort Lupton Fire Protection District, said. “ e sound will not penetrate most homes or basements built today, especially basements. erefore, many citizens never hear the emergency noti cation sirens during severe weather. It’s why they are outside warning devices.”

He said residents should sign up for weather alerts, CODE RED or get a weather radio for the most upto-date and timely severe weather noti cations.

Ti any said Fort Lupton has seven emergency noti cation sirens spread around the city and does not plan to remove any of them. Anyone ey can also be used for weather alerts.

“We do recommend using a battery-powered weather radio, the weather app on your cell phone, or CODE RED for the primary emergency noti cation in addition to the outside warning devices. Many people commonly refer to these as the tornado sirens,” Ti any said.

CodeRED is an alert system that uses geo-tracking to target speci c areas with prerecorded phone messages, emails or texts. CodeRED alerts may be implemented in situations such as police activity in the area, wild res or other emergency incidents.

Chief Ti any said the outside warning sirens are considered a secondary noti cation for people who are outdoors, such as playing golf, farming, at the park, or riding a bike without access to another tool.

“ e National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the rst and most e ective way of gathering severe storm information is through a weather radio, “he said.

Ti any said the district’s policy is to use the sirens for con rmed sighting by public safety personnel, trained weather spotters, or NOAA conditions weather radar showing a tornado on the ground near Fort Lupton. ey are a a last minute, urgent noti cation of imminent danger.

“Do not depend on the sirens for sole noti cation in case of a tornado because you may never see a tornado at night,” Ti any said.

“ ey are rare but do occur. e siren warning is a three-minute steady tone. It may be sounded multiple times. e “All Clear” is a 30-second up-and-down tone. We test the sirens for 30 seconds the rst Monday of every month at 12:00 noon from April through October.”

Safety Tips

Ti any said when the emergency siren goes o , take cover in a basement or another safe area in your house or business and stay away from windows or get to the lowest level of a building.

“Monitor the weather radio or other noti cation device for further instructions and do not come out of a protected area until advised to do so by your weather radio, or cell phone for the “ALL CLEAR” tone if you are able to hear it. We do not recommend that people go outside to attempt to “spot” the severe weather,” Ti any said.

Ti any recommends purchasing a battery-powered weather radio that alerts severe weather, and 9 News has a weather service to subscribe to and monitor news media for weather alerts.

“It is also recommended that families store enough food, water, clothing, and other supplies for a minimum of three days in case of a community emergency,” Chief Tiffany said.

For any questions, call the Fire District O ce at 303 857-4603.