City to test emergency siren system

A citywide test of Hot Springs’ entire emergency weather siren network will be held at noon Wednesday, weather permitting.

The test will be launched from the Hot Springs Fire Department Emergency Operations Center, according to a news release from the city of Hot Springs. The public will hear an air horn sounded four times; a voice message announcing this is only a test; a wail lasting for one minute; a voice message again announcing this is only a test; followed by another wail. This cycle may be repeated twice. An “All clear, emergency’s over” verbal message will sound at the end. The test will last three to seven minutes.

The wail sound is the actual sound that the public will hear in the case of an emergency.

The 11 sirens are located at Hill Wheatley Plaza, Arlington Hotel & Spa, Ozark Street, Weyerhaeuser, Holly Street, Linwood Street, Crescent Street, Water Street, Bell Alley, Molly Springs and Lakeshore Road.

The sound radius of each siren varies, depending on the number of siren heads attached. The height of each siren location, as well as wind direction and velocity, can have an effect on range as well. Each siren is strategically placed to overlap their designed sound radii.

During a weather emergency, the sirens automatically activate in a particular area when it falls under a warning issued by the National Weather Service for tornadoes, flash floods and severe thunderstorms. The city can also manually activate the sirens for alerts such as a chemical incident, emergency evacuation, flash flood, emergency announcement and hazardous materials emergencies.