PURPOSE
The purpose of the outdoor wildfire siren test is to demonstrate to public officials and to residents in the areas surrounding Lake Anderson accessed by East Dunne Avenue an outdoor warning siren system that has been deployed in other jurisdictions (Berkeley, Mill Valley, Laguna Beach) as shown in the YouTube videos below. CalFire's Dwight Good (now retired) has compared Holiday Lake Estates, Morning Sun Terrace and Jackson Oaks as a "little Oakland hills" in reference to the Oakland Hils Fire of 1991. According to Chief Good, a wildfire can spread through Holiday Lake Estates, Morning Sun Terrace and Jackson Oaks in 3 to 4 hours. According to CalFire Chief Jake Hess, it takes 8.5 hours to evacuate the hill, making fast wildfire emergency alerts and communications that reach everyone critical. Deployment of the system depends on funding not yet identified. From roads accessed by East Dunne Avenue at Gallop Drive through to Lake Anderson bridge, there are 1,113 homes and 3,406 residents, a population about equivalent to the city of. Monte Sereno (between Los Gatos and Saratoga). The sirens shown here are LRADs (Long Range Acoustic Devices) by Genasys Corporation.
YouTube Playlist with all seven (7) videos below: click here. (This is about 17 minutes of run-time, plus commercials.)
This YouTube video (4 minutes, 26 seconds) is a good overview on the need for outdoor, ground-mounted LRADs. From a literature review by the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority, the three (3) major causes of civilian fatalities in wildfires are:
extreme fire behaviour conditions,
failures and/or delays in alerting and communication systems, and
delays in evacuee departure due to last minute evacuations or inability to evacuate.
The study at the bottom of the page in this URL is well worth reading! Here is a direct document link.
Genasys Corporation has re-branded their LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) systems as "Genasys Protect Acoustics." This Youtube video (1 minutes, 44 seconds) is an overview of the system.
The vendor webpage for these outdoor sirens is here and the product being evaluated is the DS60-XL. which is audible within 1/2 mile of the siren site. The demonstration trailer has an LRAD with less reach than the DS60-XL.
The city of Berkeley in Alameda County has deployed ground-mounted Genasys LRADs (Long Rang Acoustic Devices) in part as a lesson learned from the Oakland Hill Fire of 1991 in which there were: 1) 25 fatalities, 2) 150 injuries and 3) over 3,000 homes destroyed. This YouTube video (3 minutes, 24 seconds) is an overview of Berkeley's system.
CalFire's Dwight Good (now retired) has described Holiday Lake Estates, Morning Sun Terrace and Jackson Oaks as a "little Oakland hills" in reference to this fire.
The LRAD test siren and voice content will be similar to what Berkeley transmits in a wildfire.
The city of Mill Valley in Marin County has deployed Genasys LRADs for wildfire warnings as well. LRADs are being deployed in other jurisdictions in Marin County. This YouTube video (1 minute, 48 seconds) is an overview of Mill Valley's LRAD deployment.
This is another video on the Mill Valley deployment and demonstrates the long reach (up to a mile) of their LRAD configuration.
This is a discussion on the Genasys LRAD system in the city of Laguna Beach in Orange County. This YouTube video is an overview (2 minutes) from the Emergency Operations Center.
This is another community with only one road in and one road out, as East Dunne Avenue is for Holiday Lake Estates, Morning Sun Terrace, Jackson Oaks and surrounding areas. This YouTube video (3 minutes, 19 seconds) is an overview of an HOA demonstration.
The Maui sirens lacked voice messaging capability; residents were accustomed to tsunamis (in which case the protective action is to run to higher ground), but this was a wildfire (in which case the protective action is to run to the ocean). A total of at least 102 people died in the the 2023 Maui wildfires. (There is more information in this video.)