The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Origin of sirens debated as racist
Mayor said he found no evidence others than helping volunteer fire department
Debate on the Vermilion Fire Department’s 6 p.m. daily siren has residents questioning if its origin was racist.
Mayor Jim Forthofer said during a June 15 Vermilion City Council meeting that he was first made aware of the issue during a Black Lives Matter march a few weeks ago, when activists informed him that the siren was used as a warning for people of color when the city possibly was a sundown town.
While the information was new to him, Forthofer has been speaking with Vermilion Fire Chief Chris Stempowski to further investigate the matter.
Vermilion activist Brent Gueth said he has heard many firsthand accounts of the discomfort of being in Vermilion as a person who’s not white, and has heard rumors and jokes associated with the fire siren.
Although Gueth said he believes the city has made great strides in the past few decades, perceptions still remain of discrimination in the city.
“Vermilion has perception problems in surrounding communities,” he said. “However, it’s better than it ever was.
“It’s been called prejudiced. That’s the representation that the town has from other communities.”
Gueth said he is speaking out for those who are unable to do so.
Stempowski said during the meeting that he is unsure when the siren was put into place in the city, but volunteer firefighters have used pagers since 1992 and the siren is used as a test of the system.
The siren rings at 6 p.m. every day so each volunteer can hear it, since it’s outside of a traditional workday and doesn’t conflict with other bells or signals.
A handful of residents also spoke during the meeting, many of which have family members who work in the fire department, who supported Stempowski’s reportings and said the siren acts as a safety measure.
In speaking with local historian Rich Tarrant, Forthofer said that there’s little to no evidence of the origin of the siren being racist.
“My determination is that the Vermilion fire siren is just that, a fire siren for a volunteer fire department,” Forthofer said. “It performs an essential function as a back up for the more sophisticated electronic digital communications.
“As a safety component for Vermilion residents, the fire siren should stay. I believe Sunset Towns existed elsewhere. It is naïve to suggest that racism does not exists in Vermilion and every other community. It exists intentionally and unintentionally.
“But it exists in people, not sirens. The energy in the fight against racism should be applied in engaging people and creating awareness of the effects of their actions.
“I believe retrofitting a sinister meaning onto a benign first responder exercise is unproductive in the fight against racism.”
Forthofer said the city will look into the matter, with potential solutions from residents and city officials, including integrating a different tone for the siren, playing a bugle call instead and including sirens and their times in educational purposes.