Siren Activation in Alameda Caused by Technical Glitch

Alamedans who reported hearing an emergency warning siren Tuesday morning on Bay Farm and Alameda's East End were not dreaming.

One of the city's six sirens, the one near the , was triggered around 8:10 a.m. this morning, said spokesman Rick Zombeck.

"The siren went off because of a glitch in the system," Zombeck said. The sirens, designed to alert residents in case of emergency, are activated by radio frequency from the 's dispatch center, he said.

"During the it caused an inadvertent activation of that alarm on Bay Farm," Zombeck said.

The alarm sounded for several minutes, by some accounts as many as 10, said Zombeck.

"We should have been able to immediately silence it," said Zombeck. A service technican was working on the alarm Tuesday afternoon, he said. And the Fire Department is expecting a report on its malfunction.

In the case of an actual alarm, residents should go inside, shut their windows and doors and tune into the media for reports, he said. 

"We can’t tell you over the siren what’s going on," Zombeck said. "So it’s an alert to go inside and turn on the media and get information."

KCBS is a good source he says, and the station works in partnership with the county emergency alert system. Residents can also listen to Alameda's own emergency broadcast station, 1280 AM.