Loud sirens are deafening us, firefighters argue

Some South Florida firefighters say the sirens on their fire trucks and ambulances are too loud, robbing them of their hearing.

And now they’re suing Oak Brook, Ill.-based Federal Signal, the company that makes the sirens, arguing it didn’t warn them of the hazards from longterm exposure to the sirens.

Nationwide, firefighters have contended Federal Signal could have designed the sirens to direct the volume away from areas where firefighters sit on the trucks.’

The firefighters say they need to be protected from the sounds, which reach 120 decibels — comparable to a rock concert.

Federal Signal has argued redirecting the sound defeats a key purpose of the siren: warning drivers a truck is coming.

It has said it supports what departments have told their firefighters to do: wear ear protection.

The lawsuit, filed this week in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, names almost two dozen current and former firefighters from Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County as plaintiffs.

They’re among more than 4,000 current and former firefighters nationwide who have filed such lawsuits against Federal Signal.

The Palm Beach County firefighters “have suffered a permanent decrease of their hearing,” the attorney representing them, Carmen De Gisi, wrote in the lawsuit.

But Federal Signal says it has won legal fights, including in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Illinois between 2014 and 2016.

“Federal Signal has strong defenses to these cases and has prevailed in a string of jury trials,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. “Federal Signal is committed to defending its quality siren products and will litigate these cases as necessary.”

Information from the Chicago Tribune and The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.